Since 2005, the ECOWAS Commission has gradually adopted sectoral policies in the areas of agriculture, environment and water resources as levers to boost regional integration. These three sectoral policies are implemented under the coordination and leadership of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Water Resources.

The West African Agricultural Policy (ECOWAP), which was adopted in 2005, is a breakdown of the NEPAD's Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program (CAADP). It is a response to the agricultural and food challenges in the region and affirms the vision of a modern and sustainable agriculture, based on the effectiveness and efficiency of family farms and the promotion of agricultural enterprises. Productive and competitive on the intra-Community and international markets, it must make it possible to ensure food security and provide decent incomes to the populations. This policy was reviewed in 2015 for the next ten years.

In addition to ECOWAP, two other regional policies, namely those of the Environment and Water resources, were both adopted in 2008.

The Common Environmental Policy (ECOWEP) proposes the vision of a peaceful, dignified and prosperous West Africa whose natural resources, diverse and productive, are conserved and managed in a sustainable manner for the development and balance of the sub-regional space. By highlighting regional integration and the strategic role of natural resources, it aims to reverse the serious trends of degradation and reduction of natural resources in order to ensure a healthy, livable and productive environment.

As for the West Africa Water Resources Policy (WAWRP), it aims to contribute to poverty reduction and sustainable development by directing ECOWAS and its Member States towards water resources management that reconciles economic development, social equity and environmental protection. It contributes to the West African vision for water, life and environment for 2025 adopted in March 2000 by the ECOWAS Council of Ministers for Water and Environment. WAWRP anticipates that by 2025, water resources will be managed efficiently and effectively so that everyone has access to safe drinking water for basic needs, waste disposal facilities, food security and poverty reduction, human health and biodiversity of terrestrial and aquatic systems protected.

For ECOWAS, these regional policies are the spearhead and the fertile triangle for the region's socio-economic development.