Access to credit has a significant role to play in increasing farm productivity and food security in the predicted changing climate, but remains a key constraint for smallholder farmers, farmers’ organizations (FO), cooperatives and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in West African countries. This challenge is further aggravated by the predicted economic recession caused by the COVID-19 outbreak that will result in a downturn of investment in food system sustainability from local sources. Mobilising necessary international resources to kick-start local investments to strengthen the resilience of food systems to future climate shocks is, therefore, timely and essential to ensure enhanced resilience to negative climate impacts in the context of predicted economic recession.

The Inclusive Green Financing initiative (IGREENFIN) for climate resilient and low emission smallholder agriculture is an “IFAD-green finance brand” and the first Green Climate Fund (GCF) lending regional programme to be implemented at scale in five West African countries across Green Great Wall (GGW) and beyond. This programme will scale up and replicate the Simplified Accelerated Process (SAP) project in Niger (SAP012) titled Inclusive Green Financing for Low emission and Climate Resilient Agriculture project approved by the GCF in November 2019.