Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Entwicklung und Humanitäre Hilfe
Kommentar der Anderen | Outside View (EN)
Farming communities across Africa are struggling with the challenges posed by the climate crisis. Despite heavy investment in commercial seeds and synthetic fertilizers, evidence suggests minimal progress for farmers. African governments and donors of the Global North must abandon the ineffective Green Revolution and instead develop a new food system that honours local cultures and communities.
Outside view by Million Belay
Agroecology is the intersection of traditional wisdom and ecological concepts and is critical to Africa’s agricultural evolution. This method may appear puzzling to some, yet it is a foundation for strong and durable food systems. Agroecologygr connects community well-being with soil health. It goes beyond simple farming, combining ecological knowledge, social equality, and ancient wisdom. It is a broad framework in which ecosystems and agricultural techniques collaborate to provide food that is environmentally friendly and sustainable.
For example, an agroecological farm in Kenya may combine crop rotation, agroforestry, and natural pest control, relying on years of local expertise. In Uganda, community seed banks may help to preserve biodiversity by providing access to a variety of traditional crops that are robust to local climate problems.
Food sovereignty is more than just access to food; it is a transformative notion that advocates for people’s rights to create their own food systems, putting those who produce, distribute, and consume food at the centre of food policies rather than market and corporate demands. It advocates for the right to nutritious and culturally appropriate food produced using sustainable means, as well as the right of people to choose their own food and agricultural systems. This is fully consistent with agroecology’s emphasis on local control over resources like seeds, water, and land.
In practice, food sovereignty may take the form of a Mali community managing its own seed bank, preserving indigenous agricultural varieties that are well-suited to the local environment and culture. It could be observed in an Ethiopian cooperative that processes and markets its members‘ coffee, ensuring that trade advantages are distributed evenly throughout the community.
The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) supports such efforts and advocates for laws and policies that prioritize local food systems and expertise above transnational agribusiness. It also entails protecting smallholder farmers‘ rights to access and control land and other resources, as well as ensuring that women and marginalized groups have an equal say in the food system.
AFSA’s food sovereignty stance seeks to address global food production and distribution imbalances, resisting food commodification and advocating for farmers‘ rights to save and exchange seeds, which are under threat from global seed companies‘ push for proprietary seeds. Because since the advent of the Green Revolution, productivity has only marginally improved, primarily benefiting select crops like maize. Small-scale farming households, the intended beneficiaries of Green Revolution programmes, seem scarcely better off. Poverty persists, and severe food insecurity has risen in the region.
By embracing food sovereignty, AFSA not only promotes a method of food production, but also advocates for a political and social movement that empowers communities, respects cultural and biological diversity, and challenges power structures that undermine people’s rights and needs.
Million Belay is the co-founder and General Coordinator of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), a network that advocates for seed and food sovereignty, as well as promoting agroecology and supporting the rights of local communities and indigenous peoples to their land. He is also a member of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food), and the founder of MELCA, an indigenous NGO working on agroecology, intergenerational learning, conservation of forests and improving the livelihood of local communities and indigenous peoples in Ethiopia. He also played a significant part in the establishment and activities of the Africa Biodiversity Network (ABN).
In 2023, Million Belay hosted a workshop, Let’s Go Agroecology! Transforming Food Systems in Africa, and participated in a panel discussion at the SDG Dialogue Forum 3.0 in Vienna.
In the section Outside view, Global Responsibility gives experts the opportunity to comment and share their views on current and relevant development issues. The aim is to facilitate development policy debates, promote democratic discourse and highlight the importance of implementing the 2030 Agenda. The authors are solely responsible for the content of their articles. Global Responsibility does not necessarily share the views expressed.
