"When you invest in agriculture, you invest in entire communities"

IFAD's West and Central Africa (WCA) Regional Implementation Workshop is well underway. The workshop opened yesterday morning in Dakar, with keynote speeches from Senegal's Minister of Agriculture Khadim Gueye, Bintou Djibou, Resident Coordinator of the United Nations in Dakar and IFAD WCA Director Mohammed Beavogui (pictured on the right).

Over the next few days, participants (including project staff from more than 15 West and Central African countries are joining forces to share experiences of the value chain approach, taking stock of successes, lessons learnt and brainstorming ideas that will allow IFAD to optimise the value chain approach.

"When you invest in agriculture, you invest in entire communities," Beavogui told journalists attending yesterday's press conference.