\u00a0<\/em>Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt; 7 November 2022 \u2014\u00a0As the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) returns to Africa after six years, the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) is calling on international support for sustainable, locally-driven agriculture solutions to address the climate crisis. AFSA, Africa\u2019s largest civil society organisation representing more than 200 million farmers, pastoralists, fisherfolk, indigenous peoples, women\u2019s and youth movements, and faith groups across the continent, will attend COP27 to ensure negotiations strengthen Africa\u2019s resilience to the climate crisis by integrating agroecology into regional and national climate policy spaces.<\/p>\n

The delegation will build off of AFSA\u2019s ongoing advocacy, including a meeting in September of this year in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where AFSA announced their demand that COP27 put agroecology at the centre of Africa\u2019s climate adaptation, creating resilience for Africa\u2019s small-scale farmers, fishers, pastoralists, and indigenous communities and their food systems.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the conference, AFSA has submitted\u00a0Adaptation, Resilience and Mitigation Through Agroecology<\/a><\/u><\/em>, a position paper that outlines a clear path forward for leaders and policymakers to prioritise climate adaptation through agroecology. In the paper, AFSA outlines five key demands, summarised as:<\/p>\n

Agriculture:\u00a0Prioritise agroecology by including it in COP27 climate decisions and institutionalising it within the UNFCCC<\/p>\n

Climate adaptation:\u00a0Centre and meaningfully engage small-scale food producers in climate adaptation, including the utilisation of Indigenous knowledge<\/p>\n

Climate action on land:\u00a0Focus on the protection of land from degradation due to large-scale agriculture and establish\/restore community-based management of natural resources<\/p>\n

Finance:\u00a0Direct new and accessible climate financing to small-scale farmers, in the form of grants rather than loans<\/p>\n

Gender:\u00a0Operationalise the UNFCCC\u2019s Gender Action Plan to enable women and girls to make the best economic decisions to sustainably steward their lands<\/p>\n

\u201cIgnoring agroecology is ignoring Africa\u2019s farmers and sidelining the planet\u2019s most vulnerable people who are being hit first and worst by the climate crisis<\/em>,\u201d said Dr. Million Belay, AFSA General Coordinator and Panel Expert with IPES-Food. \u201cAfrica could feed itself many times over. But agroecology cannot and must not be overlooked by decision-makers as the most effective means to build resilience and enable small-scale farmers, pastoralists, and fishers to adapt to climate change<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

AFSA will also host an exhibit,\u00a0Opportunities for Directing Climate Finance towards Resilient & Agroecological Food Systems<\/a><\/u>, at COP27 on November 14, where they will present data conveying the urgent need for government climate investment in agroecology and food system efforts. The presentation will be followed by a panel with speakers from the African Development Bank, Green Climate Fund, AFSA, representatives from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).<\/p>\n

\u201cAfrica is enduring the effects of the climate emergency every day\u2014the climate crisis doesn\u2019t wait and neither can our people<\/em>,\u201d said Bridget Mugambe, AFSA Program Coordinator. \u201cIt\u2019s time for both African and international leaders to listen to our demands and prioritise agroecology as an African-led solution to feed our communities while also adapting to the climate emergency.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Sena Alouka, Executive Director of Togo’s Young Volunteers for the Environment and Chair of AFSA’s Climate and Agroecology Working Group, emphasized the same point\u00a0“Leaders at COP27 must prioritize food systems in Africa’s climate adaptation plans and integrate agroecology into UNFCCC climate negotiations. We don’t have time to fritter away. The United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP 27) provides a global opportunity to begin a just transition away from high-emitting industrial agriculture, corporate food system monopolies, and false climate solutions and toward agroecology, food sovereignty, and self-sufficiency<\/em>.”<\/p>\n

As part of their efforts at COP27,\u00a0AFSA is launching a week-long social media campaign to promote agroecology as Africa\u2019s solution to the climate crisis.\u00a0Using the hashtag\u00a0#Agroecology4Climate<\/em>, AFSA invites the global community to join their campaign and follow along with the week\u2019s events.<\/p>\n

##<\/p>\n

AFSA is the biggest continental voice for food sovereignty and agroecology in Africa. It is the largest network of networks in Africa, with more than 30 network members with a combined potential reach of 200 million Africans. Its membership embraces farmers, indigenous communities, pastoralists, hunters and gatherers, fisherfolk, consumer networks, women and youth networks, faith-based organizations, and civil society organizations (CSOs).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt; 7 November 2022 \u2014\u00a0As the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) returns to Africa after six years, the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) is calling on international support for sustainable, locally-driven agriculture solutions to address the climate crisis. AFSA, Africa\u2019s largest civil society organisation representing more than 200 million farmers, …<\/p>\n

Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa at COP27 to Demand Investment in Agroecology as Locally-Driven Solution to Climate Crisis<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31850,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[116,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-nutritions","category-international-news"],"yoast_head":"\n