For ECOWAS, WAICSA has the potential to improve the food security of 90,000 smallholder farming households in the region and to convert more than 185,000 hectares into climate-resilient and productive agricultural land.

As part of the mobilization of additional resources for the financing of ECOWAP through the Regional Fund for Agriculture and Food (RFAF), ECOWAS' Directorate of Agriculture and Rural Development presented to the "Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance (The Lab)" its "West Africa Initiative for Climate-Smart Agriculture (WAICSA)". This initiative was selected in early 2019 from the top six out of 250 ideas submitted at the end of 2018 as part of a global call for project proposals.

On September 27, 2019 in New York, on the margins of the Climate Action Summit organized under the auspices of the Secretary General of the United Nations, the Lab's member institutions analyzed the financial mechanisms proposed by the selected promoters in early 2019 in order to officially endorse them. During the Lab meeting, the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Mr. Jean Claude Kassi Brou, officially announced the Commission's contribution to WAICSA through the RFAF Fund managed by the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) which has also committed itself to contribute financially to the development of this instrument. The members of the Lab greatly appreciated these interventions in favor of WAICSA and endorsed the initiative to the applause of the audience.

WAICSA plans to establish a blended financing fund to support the adoption of climate-smart agriculture by providing technical assistance and subsidized loans or guarantees to small farmers. Over the period 2020-2027, WAICSA's target envelope will be USD 80 million, of which 80% will be for the investment financing mechanism and 20% for a technical assistance facility. WAICSA also seeks the support of investors and other stakeholders such as the ECOWAP donor group. In addition to these commitments, the Fund also aims to mobilize public resources from other institutions and concessional investors as well as capital from private investors.

Sur la période 2020-2027, l’enveloppe cible de Waicsa sera de 80 millions USD dont 80% destinés au mécanisme de financement des investissements et 20% à une facilité d’assistance technique. Waicsa vise également à obtenir le soutien d'investisseurs et d'autres parties prenantes telles que le groupe de donateurs de l’Ecowap. En plus de ces engagements, le Fonds vise, par ailleurs, à mobiliser des ressources publiques provenant d'autres institutions et d'investisseurs concessionnels ainsi que des capitaux d'investisseurs privés.