ESAFF Joins UNEP Major Groups in Regional Consultative Meeting Ahead of AMCEN 2025
Nairobi, Kenya – July 2025. The Eastern and Southern Africa Small Scale Farmers Forum (ESAFF) has joined fellow members of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Major Groups and Stakeholders (MGS) in participating in the Africa Regional Consultative Meeting, taking place in Nairobi from 12th –18th July 2025. The meeting precedes the landmark 20th Ordinary Session of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), scheduled for 10th –13th July.
Convened under the theme “Four Decades of Environmental Action in Africa: Reflecting on the Past and Imagining the Future”, AMCEN 2025 brings together African Ministers of Environment, key regional and global institutions and civil society representatives to assess the continent’s environmental journey and shape a forward-looking agenda. This milestone session also sets the stage for the second edition of the Africa Climate Summit, scheduled for September 2025 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
ESAFF, a grassroots network and movement representing over 5.5 million smallholder farmers across 17 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa, took an active role in the MGS regional consultative processes. The forum provided a platform for civil society actors – including farmers, women, youth, Indigenous Peoples, NGOs, local authorities, workers, business leaders and researchers to consolidate their positions, align priorities and amplify the voices of those often left at the margins of policy-making.
Speaking during the consultations, ESAFF representatives underscored the centrality of smallholder farmers in Africa’s environmental and climate discourse, emphasizing the need for inclusive, farmer-led solutions, adequate finance grounded in agroecology, food sovereignty and climate justice.
“As accredited observers to UNEP since 2023, ESAFF’s participation in AMCEN processes reflects the organizations continued commitment to influencing environmental and climate change governance from the grassroots to the continental level,” said Ms. Esther Nyamoko, noting that the organisation is leveraging its observer status at the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) and its subsidiary bodies to advance the interests of rural communities most affected by climate and ecological crises.
The AMCEN MGS platform enables non-state actors to contribute meaningfully to environmental decision-making, presenting joint statements, recommendations and advocacy messages directly to African Ministers of Environment. Through its engagement, ESAFF advocated for increased investment in locally led climate initiatives, adequate financing and accessible finance to climate solutions, protection of farmer-managed seed systems, secure land rights for small-scale producers and climate finance mechanisms that prioritize adaptation and resilience at the community level.
ESAFF’s participation in AMCEN 2025 not only amplifies the voice of smallholder farmers but also reflects a broader shift toward people-centered environmental policies.
As AMCEN marks 40 years of environmental action, ESAFF is calling on governments to ensure the next four decades are driven by justice, equity and sustainability principles that place people and the planet before profit.
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