Madar (Dakar) - Some 41.8 million people face acute food insecurity in West Africa and the Sahel, including more than 1.4 million in the emergency phase, Senegal's Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Omar Ba said on Thursday, October 22, 2026, citing the December 2025 Cadre Harmonise analysis, according to the Senegalese Press Agency (APS).
Opening the fourth meeting of the management committee of the ECOWAS Regional Food Security Reserve in Dakar, he noted that projections for the June-August 2026 lean season had warned that up to 52.2 million people could be affected, citing conflict, climate shocks and falling purchasing power. "Regional solidarity is not just a slogan but an obligation," he said.
Konlani Kanfitin, executive director of the Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (ARAA), said the reserve holds a physical stock of more than 69,000 tonnes of cereals and has carried out 27 interventions since it was set up, but remains below its initial target of 400,000 tonnes. He called for larger stocks, more storage capacity in member states, easier cross-border transit of grain and additional financing.
The reserve is the region's third line of defence against food crises, after local stocks and national systems. The two-day meeting is expected to approve the reserve's 2027 budget programme and its resource mobilisation plan.
