10 September 2008: Presenting his report on the status of
the Community Work Programme, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, President of the Economic
Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission, highlighted the economic
impacts of the increase of food and commodity prices in West African States.

He
noted that the crisis had been caused by a number of external factors,
including adverse weather conditions, changing diets, urbanization, economic
growth and expanding populations as well as increased industrial demand,
especially for biofuel production.
Outlining the policy measures taken by
ECOWAS members to ameliorate the impacts of high food and oil prices, he said
total loss in revenues was about 0.3 percent of GDP, with current account
deficits widening to about 3.0 percent in some member states. He reported that
ECOWAS is collaborating with development partners to provide further
assistance, including efforts to enhance agricultural production and
productivity in the region. [ECOWAS
Press Release]