Transforming Climate-Smart Agriculture
Women account for 40–60% of agricultural workers across West Africa, yet face a persistent 20–30% productivity gap. Promising technologies are repeatedly tested but rarely reach farmers at scale — trapped in a cycle of permanent pilots.
Climate-smart agricultural solutions such as solar powered irrigation, cold storage, post harvest drying, and improved inputs have the potential to increase farmer productivity and incomes by 20–50%. These technologies already exist and are increasingly available across Africa. However, what is missing are effective delivery models that make them accessible to smallholder farmers particularly women.
Instead of running isolated pilots, WAASP coordinates structured six-month validation cycles through trusted farmer networks — reducing duplication, improving learning efficiency, and building sustainable distribution channels.
Identify promising technologies and test them under real farming conditions with measurable performance criteria.
Coordinate pilots across multiple partners to reduce duplication and improve learning efficiency for all stakeholders.
Integrate validated solutions into aggregator operations to create sustainable distribution channels beyond the pilot phase.
The programme operates through three established networks with combined reach of over 500,000 smallholder farmers. Solutions are assessed on adoption, retention, income improvement, and operational viability.
Our networks span across West Africa, connecting smallholder farmers to global supply chains and sustainable practices.
myAgro is empowering farmers to overcome climate challenges through sustainable agriculture practices
Vitara partners with women small-scale farmers in West Africa to supply high-quality, traceable commodities to global food and cosmetic manufacturers.
Complete Farmer connects smallholder farmers to global markets through technology and production support.
Every solution is tested against adoption, retention, income growth, and operational viability.
WAASP is testing five climate-smart solutions across its pilot network, each selected for its potential to address critical productivity constraints facing smallholder farmers in West Africa.
Solar-powered poultry brooders providing reliable heat and light for chick rearing.
Reduced fertilizer application that lowers input costs while maintaining crop yields.
Agricultural innovation programmes frequently struggle to scale due to fragmented pilots, high validation costs, and limited cross-organisation learning.
WAASP introduces a new model: a regional aggregator-of-aggregators platform that connects solution providers with trusted farmer networks.
This model aims to:
We welcome collaboration with partners who want to contribute to building scalable agricultural innovation systems.
Interested in co-funding validation cycles, scaling proven solutions, or supporting regional expansion.
Offering climate-smart technologies aligned with smallholder farming systems and looking to validate models.
Working directly with smallholder farmers and interested in integrating validated solutions into operations.
Startup Discovery School (SDS) is an innovation infrastructure partner that designs, builds, and operates long-term entrepreneurship and venture-building programmes for governments, development institutions, corporates, and foundations across Africa, Asia, and the UK.
SDS delivers end-to-end innovation programmes that catalyse climate solutions, advance gender-inclusive entrepreneurship, and drive inclusive economic growth.
If you are interested in partnering with WAASP as a funder, aggregator, or solution provider, the SDS team would love to hear from you.