How Agroecology is Bringing Land Back to Life in Africa

Agoecology

Food insecurity is a very real threat to many across the continent of Africa. The climate crisis and destructive farming practices are challenging African farmers’ ability to produce enough healthy food. Meanwhile, the gradual commodification of Africa’s land, corporates and elites ‘grabbing’ the most productive land, and agricultural policies that promote industrial farming are the greatest tragedies of Africa’s food system today.

A book entitled “Agroecology – Our Land is Our Life” has been recently published by the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA). It brings together ten case studies from six countries that demonstrate how agroecology nurtures soil health, conserves biodiversity, and restores dignity to Africa’s small-scale food producers.

For example, Tanzania’s hillside farmers show how digging terraces to create beds and building trenches to harvest rainwater prevents run-off and soil erosion. Likewise, farmers in Zimbabwe who previously struggled to find a sustainable water source now have water in such abundance that they can grow rice. Projects in Kenya and Togo have been turning to agroecology to restore soil fertility, making sustainable, organic inputs. Farmers learn to produce them quickly and efficiently on-site using low-cost, locally available materials.

Agroecology is a social movement that strives to make sustainable farming accessible to all. By securing land rights, teaching sustainable land management or agroforestry skills, initiatives across Uganda, Kenya and Senegal show that access to the right education and support means that no one is left behind.

The book is available at:

https://afsafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/agroecology-our-land-is-our-life.pdf

- Third World Network