ECOWAS develops financial mechanism to support food production

In response to the impacts of climate change on agricultural productivity in West Africa, particularly on small producers, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has developed a financial mechanism integrated into the Regional Fund for Agriculture and Food (RFAF) called the “West African Initiative for Climate-Smart Agriculture (WAICSA)”.

The WAICSA comprises of two facilities: the Financing Facility, which provides loans, guarantees and equity investments to small farms, smallholder organizations, agribusinesses, directly and through local financial institutions, and the Technical Assistance Facility, which helps financial intermediaries to design loan products incorporating Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) cross-compliance and guides smallholders in the implementation of CSA practices adapted to the local context.

According to a call for proposal announced by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) on Friday, September 4, these two facilities will finance simultaneously and in a complementary manner investment projects adopting sustainable and profitable agriculture techniques in the agricultural, livestock, fisheries and forestry sectors, aimed essentially at adaptation to and mitigation of climate change.

The selected WAICSA financing mechanism relies on financial intermediaries which will benefit from the lines of credit to finance the operators targeted by the Fund (farmers, cooperatives and agroentrepreneurs).

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“With a view to selecting these financial intermediaries, the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) is launching this Call for Expression of Interest,” the BoG said.

By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana