There is a growing awareness across Africa that we need to improve the health of soils dramatically if we are to produce nutritious food and use water sustainably. The first step in beginning a soil regeneration process is to shift mindsets—to unlearn the ways we think about soil—or indeed—fail to think about soil.
With this in mind, the Healthy Soil Healthy Food (HSHF) initiative was jointly established by AFSA and SKI, bringing together 15 soil regeneration organisations that are working closely with smallholder farmers across the continent.
The HSHF initiative held 12 online learning and sharing sessions from September to December 2020, and it was from these sessions that the content was predominantly drawn for the HSHF publication we wish to proudly announce: Healthy Soil for Healthy Communities – An Introduction to Soil Health Practices for Africa.
This publication is not a technical book. Rather, it aims to help people move towards this mindset shift around soil. Within its pages, it presents the kind of understanding of soil needed if we are to have any chance of successfully regenerating soils, as well as covering recent practices that can help farmers transition to agriculture that prioritises soil health and is in greater harmony with nature.
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20 - 21 February 2022. As part of the World Social Justice Day commemoration, AFSA organised a two-day social media campaign promoting Agroecology as a viable option for ensuring social justice for African smallholder food producers. The campaign will take place on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram with the official hashtag #Agroecology4SocialJustice.Related:
21 February 2022. CSO Session 10: Food Sovereignty and Rural Transformation through Agroecology and Land Justice
This session during the Africa-Europe Week (14-18 February 2022) set out the challenges facing African communities - from the corporate capture of African lands and natural resources to the industrialisation of African food systems and the climate crisis. Key speakers outlined the struggles - for African civil society voices to be heard, for land justice, for women’s land rights, for corporate accountability, and for the transition to agroecology – a people-centred system of sustainable agriculture, combining indigenous knowledge with cutting edge science, working with nature to nourish healthy and resilient communities.
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6 - 9 December 2021. The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) organized a three-day strategy meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, to discuss and reflect on emerging themes and issues concerning the African movement for food sovereignty and food system transformation that facilitates Africa's transition to agroecology.
The primary goal of the 2021 AFSA meetings was to evaluate progress since 2018 and develop a clear strategy for a future engagement at the continental, regional, and national levels. More than seventy people from 32 African countries attended the conference.
The first two days were devoted to four separate working group meetings; each focused on a detailed review of activities carried out in the previous two years and planning for the coming year. Working groups:
- Land and Agroecology
- Resilient Seed Systems and Agroecology
- Citizens for Sustainable Food Systems
- Climate Change and Agroecology
The Climate Change and Agroecology meeting was a side session in which the members reflected on the work that the group had done in 2021 but also proposed what they would do in 2022 regarding the transition to Agroecology for Climate Action. Over the period of last year 2021, the AFSA Climate Change working group members carried out various activities.
The links hereafter refer to some of the vast engagements that were carried out by the members in campaigning for the transition to Agroecology for Climate Action. COP26 Key Climate Action Demands – These were generated immediately after the Africa Climate Week 2021 and endorsed by various organisations; Zimbabwe – Nigeria – Zambia – Rwanda – Kenya – Ghana – Cameroon
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