Food Sovereignty in Africa: Scaling Agroecology and Ecological Organic Agriculture for Resilient and Sustainable Agrifood Systems in Africa
Context and Background Africa’s food systems are under increasing pressure from multiple, interconnected challenges, including climate change, land degradation, biodiversity loss, soil fertility decline, and persistent food and nutrition insecurity. Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall patterns, and extreme weather events are undermining agricultural productivity and farmer livelihoods across the continent. At the same time, unsustainable land-use practices have contributed to declining soil fertility, which threatens the resilience of Africa‘s food systems. There is thus a growing recognition of the need for transformative approaches beyond incremental improvements in productivity to address the root causes of vulnerability and unsustainability. Agroecology has emerged as a transformative pathway that integrates ecological principles, scientific knowledge, and local practices to build resilient, inclusive, and sustainable agricultural systems. The Ecological Organic Agriculture Initiative (EOAI) since 2011, a continental initiative of the African Union, aims at promoting ecological and organic agriculture practices across Africa to enhance smallholder farm productivity and food security. The initiative focuses on integrating ecological practices into national agricultural systems and policies and is supported by the African Union Commission (AUC). Across the continent, agroecology and EOA are gaining momentum through farmer-led innovations, research initiatives, and supportive policy dialogues. However, scaling agroecology and EOA requires stronger […]
