Ministers responsible for animal health across the Economic Community of West African States have adopted three regional strategies covering donkeys through 2030, foot-and-mouth disease for 2027 to 2031, and avian influenza over the same five-year period.
The strategies were reviewed and adopted at a meeting held on Thursday, 8 October 2026 in Lomé, Togo, held alongside the 11th annual meeting of the ECOWAS regional animal health networks.
That gathering ran from 6 to 8 October 2026, also in the Togolese capital, under the theme “Strengthening the surveillance and control of transboundary animal diseases in the ECOWAS region.”
On the donkey strategy, the ministers pointed to growing threats to the species in West Africa and committed to four key actions.
The first is a ban on the trade in donkey skins, to be pursued by strengthening national laws and cross-border cooperation between veterinary services, the police, customs, quarantine services and other relevant authorities in their respective states.
They also decided to coordinate the project by entrusting the Regional Animal Health Centre with implementation of the planned actions, monitoring and evaluation, reporting and fundraising, and to develop strong relationships with technical and financial partners to support the strategy’s implementation.
On foot-and-mouth disease, the ministerial delegations reiterated the commitment of ECOWAS member states to strengthen health measures by improving prevention, surveillance, biosecurity, diagnosis and vaccination against the disease.
They recommended designating national focal points for foot-and-mouth disease linked to the regional framework on the issue, along with harmonising national plans in line with the regional strategy and the phased approach to combating the disease.
Regional data sharing and cross-border cooperation on animal movements and risks, the mobilisation of national and Community resources as well as those of technical and financial partners to fund the strategy’s priorities, and overall coordination and monitoring of the strategy entrusted to the Regional Animal Health Centre also feature among the ministers’ resolutions.
On avian influenza, the ministers and their representatives reaffirmed their states’ commitment to aligning national mechanisms with regional guidelines and encouraged the mobilisation of internal and external financial resources for implementation.
They further reaffirmed the Regional Animal Health Centre’s role in steering, monitoring, evaluating and supporting ECOWAS member states, and in ensuring regular monitoring with a mid-term review in 2028 and a final evaluation in 2031.
At the close of the proceedings, the Chair of the ministerial meeting, Maître Ousmane Diagne, Deputy Minister for Livestock of Senegal, whose country currently holds the rotating presidency of ECOWAS, expressed gratitude to participants for the value of their discussions.
He stated that the guidelines discussed mark a fundamental step towards strengthening animal health and welfare within the ECOWAS region.
Earlier, at the opening of the meeting, Tchin Daré, Deputy Minister attached to the Minister of Health of Togo, representing the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries, Animal Resources and Food Sovereignty and the Minister of Health, Public Hygiene, Universal Health Coverage and Insurance, and Dehpue Yenpea Zuo, Commissioner for Economic Affairs and Agriculture at the ECOWAS Commission, emphasised the importance of the meeting.
In their view, the meeting underscores the collective commitment to animal protection, animal health, food and nutritional security, as well as the sustainable development of pastoral and agro-pastoral economies in the West African region.
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