corporate control in african agriculture

On 16 September, African social movements came together to discuss the upcoming United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS), which takes place on the 23 September. On this day, the African Union (AU) will be presenting an African "common position".

As social movements in Africa we reject both the UNFSS and the AU's position, which allegedly represents all of us Africans, as further entrenchment of the corporate capture of our food systems.

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In July 2021 the African Union (AU) released a Green Recovery Action Plan for the continent, in the context of COVID-19 and climate change. The basis of the plan is that a “clean and resilient recovery in Africa will lead to employment in the industries of the future whilst ensuring that we address the linked challenges of public health, prosperity and climate change.” The plan is a sort of blueprint with which it encourages AU member states to align or develop national programmes and policies related to climate and biodiversity, along five priority areas.

The African Union (AU) has embarked on a mission towards harmonising seed regulatory frameworks across the continent, beginning with the establishment of a set of Guidelines on seed law harmonisation. 

The African Centre for Biodiversity, along with other civil society organisations and farmers’ associations from Africa, have actively engaged in the development of these Guidelines. In April 2021, we attended an online stakeholder consultation and then provided preliminary comments.