African Call for Policy Support and Investment to Transform Food Systems through Agroecology

Sagana, Kenya – From February 11th to 14th, 2025, over 100 participants from 22 African countries came together in Sagana, Kenya, for the PAN African Agroecology Workshop 2025.

The event was attended by representatives of smallholder food producers, civil society organizations, researchers, and policymakers to celebrate the power of agroecology to transform Africa’s food systems and demanded urgent action to support sustainable, equitable, and resilient food production.

Reading a joint statement, Mr. Hakim Baliraine a farmer from Uganda said that participants agreed on strategies to advance food sovereignty across the continent as Africa’s annual food imports which was at USD 50 Billion is set to surge to USD 90-USD 110 billion by 2025.

Mr. Hakim who is also a chairperson of AFSA and ESAFF said that participants emphasized that agroecology is not just a farming method but a movement that prioritizes people, nature, and local knowledge over profit-driven industrial agriculture.

The statement says that smallholder food producers, who produce the majority of Africa’s food, face immense challenges, including limited access to land, resources, and policy recognition and that Agroecology offers a solution by mimicking nature and closing nutrient cycles, food producers build their self-sufficiency and climate resilience.

It said that Agroecology promotes biodiversity, healthy soils, diverse diets, and social equity while rejecting harmful practices like toxic and synthetic inputs, GMOs, and monocultures.

On her part, Ms. Imke-Friederike Tiemann-Middleton who works with the Bread for the World (BftW) in German, said that “participants celebrated inspiring examples of agroecology in action, such as the successful development of an agroecology policy in Muranga County, Kenya”, She added that local governments, civil society, and farmers collaborated to create inclusive, people-centered policies.

The workshop was organised by BfdW following the call by African smallholder farmers organisations and civil Society from eastern, central, southern, western and northern Africa, who have been working in isolation on agrifood systems policies for years.

The event called for 7 concrete actions as follows;

African governments must prioritize agroecology by developing and funding policies that support smallholder farmers, seed sovereignty, and sustainable food production.
The continent to follow Senegal’s lead and allocate at least 50% of their agricultural budgets to agroecology.
Support farmer-managed seed systems and reject corporate control of seeds.
Place agroecology at the heart of school curricula, extension service and agricultural training programs to empower future generations with sustainable, resilient farming practices.
Support participatory research that addresses the unique needs of smallholder farmers.
Advocate for agroecological solutions to climate change to enhance resilience and protect against false solutions like carbon trading.
Celebrate and preserve indigenous agroecological knowledge and practices.