In commemoration of International Food Sovereignty Day, a recently released report titled “They will feed us! A people’s route to African food sovereignty” spotlights disconcerting trends that promote corporate interests within African food systems.
This comprehensive report stems from an independent evaluation conducted by African peasant and civil society organizations*. It offers a critical examination of both the process and content of two significant events – the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) and the 2023 Dakar 2 ‘Feed Africa Summit.’ These gatherings aimed to establish “national pathways” and “compacts,” respectively, with the intent of reinforcing a corporate-driven, industrial transformation of food systems on the African continent.
Criticism has been levied at the UNFSS and the Dakar 2 Summit for their perceived undemocratic, opaque, and illegitimate approaches. They encouraged African governments to craft “national pathways” and “national compacts,” often prioritizing modernization and green revolution strategies along with foreign private investment over supporting local peasant agroecology and territorial markets.
Recognizing the profound interest that corporate and geopolitical entities hold in Africa’s abundant natural resources and markets, African peasant organizations and civil society groups have undertaken an autonomous evaluation. This evaluation draws from case studies conducted in five countries: Mali, the Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Zambia, and Morocco. Its purpose is to assess the coherence, effectiveness, and inclusivity of the national pathways and compacts presented by their respective governments.
