Farmers under their umbrella organizations Eastern and Southern Small Scale Farmers Forum (ESAFF) and Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) Uganda have asked African governments to Intergrate Agroecology in the proposed Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) to attain Africa Food sovereignty.
CAADP was launched in 2003 under the Maputo Declaration where African leaders committed to allocating atleast 10%of their national budgets to agricultural development to achieve a6% annual growth rate in the agricultural sector.
This commitment aimed to address food insecurity, poverty abd underdevelopment by boosting productivity and fostering rural growth.
“We call on his excellence Yoweri K Museveni and Ministry of Agriculture to mobilise other African leaders to support the voice of farmers and Intergrate Agroecology in the CAADP strategy to achieve African Led Agricultural Transition for Food Sovereignty in the Continent, “Hakim Baliraine ESAFF Chairman said.
He reasoned that Agroecology must be recognised as primary strategy within Africa’s agricultural policies because research shows that agroecological practices increase crop resilience by up to 30%.
Farmers too demand that African governments rejects Genetically modified Organisms (GMOs) and synthetic inputs and allocates financial investments to farmers managed seed systems and biofertilizers.
“Despite progress under the CAADP, the ambitious goals remain unmet across much of Africa. The 2014 Malabo Declaration reiterated these commitments emphasizing accountability, inclusivity and sustainable agriculture,” Baliraine stressed.
” We commend the space given to farmers and civil society organizations to participate in the process however we are concerned that their voices are being overlooked in favour of industrial and agricultural approaches, “he added.
In a recent youth summit in Addis Ababa Ethiopia representatives from 47 African nations demanded that agroecology be embedded in the CAADP framework strategy.
Dr Fitsum Assefa Minister of Agriculture of Ethiopia expressed support for agroecology during the summit.
According to a 2023 report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Africa is facing an unprecedented food crisis with about 282 million people in Africa undernourished.
In November 2023, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger were identified as food insecurity hotspots, with over 50% of the population experiencing food insecurity.
