In West Africa, the fisheries and aquaculture sector is still facing challenges that hamper its harmonious development and do not allow the sector to contribute sustainably to food and nutrition security and chronical poverty reduction within the populations of West Africa.

These difficulties include mainly: (i) weakness of fisheries resources management systems, especially shared stock among ECOWAS members States; (ii) illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing practices that persist; (iii) the low development of aquaculture with the hydrographic potential of the region; (iv) and weak processing systems and transport infrastructure for intra-regional trade of fishes and fish products. 

To address some of these issues in addition to food and nutrition security, poverty reduction and collaboration among stakeholders, actors and partners of the sector in West Africa, the Directorate of Agriculture and Rural Development of ECOWAS, in collaboration with FAO and with the support from European Union, organises a launch workshop of the regional policy dialogue process for the Development of ECOWAS Fisheries and Aquaculture Regional Policy within the Framework of Regional Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP).