Agro-ecology is a crucial solution for the continent’s farmers to adapt to climate change and build resilience, says the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa.
The African Food Sovereignty Alliance (AFSA) fears that the continent will be sidelined by governments at the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP 27) in Egypt this November, and that small-scale African farmers will be left out of the climate financing.
In a statement released on Friday eveninga, the coalition of 36 member networks said that ignoring the voice of small-scale farmers will only further undermine food security in a time of growing hunger.
To avoid such a scenario, Dr Million Belay, AFSA’s general coordinator, urged decision makers to better promote agro-ecology. “Ignoring agro-ecology means ignoring African farmers and sidelining the world’s most vulnerable people, who are the first and most affected by the climate crisis. Africa could feed itself many times over. But agro-ecology cannot and should not be ignored by policymakers as the most effective way to build resilience and enable small-scale farmers, pastoralists and fishermen to adapt to climate change,” he said.
Bridget Mugambe, AFSA’s programme coordinator and head of the climate and agro-ecology working group, denounced the inadequacy of the means available to the black continent to combat the effects of climate change.
“To maintain our livelihoods and feed our communities, we are forced to adapt – yet we receive negligible funding from the international community. We call on this COP 27 to put food systems at the centre of adaptation plans for Africa and to direct climate finance towards agro-ecology. Africa can be fed by Africans,” she argued.
AFSA presents itself as the largest continental voice for food sovereignty and agro-ecology in Africa. Its members are farmers, indigenous communities, pastoralists, hunters and gatherers, fisherfolk, consumer networks, women’s and youth networks, faith-based organisations and civil society organisations.
ARD/te/lb/abj/APA