The continental agroecology workshop opened in Sagana, Kenya on February 10, 2025, with the participation of SAILD, The Farmer’s Voice and PROPAC for Cameroon, ended on February 14 with the presentation of Africa’s agroecology advocacy priorities.
During the workshop’s closing press conference at the Sagana Getaway Resort, 7 recommendations calling governments and other stakeholders to action were presented to media men and women in English and Swahili.
These recommendations follow on from the 4 priorities defined at the end of the 5-day workshop as the basis for advocacy to ensure that agroecology is taken into account in national programs and that countries achieve food sovereignty.
Some sixty participants representing civil society organizations from 19 countries in Southern, East, West, Central and North Africa, brought together in this Kenyan workshop by Bread for the World (Germany), agreed to build advocacy around grassroots actors.
4 priorities to be developed to build advocacy for agroecology:
- Farmer-to-farmer knowledge sharing
- Agroecological food and seed fairs
- A unified regional campaign on agroecology
- Documentation and communication of agroecological success stories.
The participants pledged to continue working after Nairobi to draw up action plans for these areas of work and to mobilize the necessary resources.
- Rodrigue Kouang
Sagana, Kenya’s 7 agroecology recommendations to governments
- Governments should prioritize agroecology by developing and funding policies that support small-scale farmers, seed sovereignty and sustainable food production.
- Follow Senegal’s example: all African governments should 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 and agricultural training programs to equip future generations with sustainable and resilient agricultural practices.
- Support participatory research that meets the specific needs of small-scale producers.
- Promote agroecological solutions to climate change to build resilience and protect against false solutions such as carbon trading.
- Celebrate and preserve indigenous agroecological knowledge and practices.
