How and on what principles has ECOAGIS been designed ?

Given the need of having on time a reliable information for decision-support and guarantee a good governance of food and nutrition security in the Sahel and West Africa, ECOWAS, CILSS and UEMOA have decided to operationalize a common information system under the steering of ECOWAS and implemented by AGRHYMET Regional Centre.

ECOWAS has deliberately chosen a participative approach and has involved stakeholders of the agricultural sector of member States in all development and implementation stages of ECOAGRIS. Thus, it is consensually and federally that the concept note of its implementation at national and regional level has been defined and validated and its guiding principles have been adopted, its orientation note for its effective implementation has been validated.

It is as well in a participative manner that in April 2008, ECOAGRIS Task Force has adopted in Cotonou the major principles to regulate the production, management and access to data that are generated by the different systems and mechanisms at national as well as regional level. On the others, a joint assessment among ECOWAS and information systems operating in the area of food security in the seven Member States currently beneficiary of the program has permitted to define the general architecture of the ECOAGRIS information system, identify data base to create or improve and to identify with them the needs in terms of Information and Communication technology equipment they were supposed to be equipped with.