African Union-AU urged to develop a clear strategy on agro ecology

A  Consortium of Civil Society Organisation-CSOS has called on the African Union-AU and member states to develop a clear strategy on agro ecology and use of indigenous seeds.

The consortium also wants a-u to follow the public spending guidelines and aims of the Malabo declaration, which calls for governments to work together to improve livelihoods through agriculture. 

The CSOS include action aid Zambia, Pelum Zambia, caritas Zambia, fian Zambia, Zambia climate change network community development, technology development trust, zambia alliance for agro ecology and biodiversity and Zambia social forum.

Others are small scale farmer organizations, women lobby groups and social movements from the continent.  

The consortium says governments must invest and scale-up support to smallholder farmers, especially women and sustainable agro ecological approaches to farming, so farmers can improve soil fertility for crop production, without the use of expensive fossil-fuel chemical fertilizers.

The consortium has noted the need for the national governments to take policy measures to subsidize food accessibility to low-income people particularly women and children.

Actionaid  Zambia country director Nalucha Ziba read the communiqué on behalf of the CSO during the occasion of the a-u 4th mid-year coordination of heads of state and government.

She has called on national governments to institute immediate reforms in the farm input programmes and national research centres that integrates communities’ indigenous knowledge to be more responsive to the needs of small-scale farmers to increase seed sovereignty and strengthen agro ecology.