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The question of food sovereignty returned to the heart of concerns in 2022 on the African continent. The impacts of climate change as well as geopolitical shocks have highlighted the weaknesses of local agricultural systems, an issue discussed at the summit in Dakar, but also during a conference organized by the organization Farm in Paris.
« We must find appropriate forms of agricultural development specific to Africa “. This is highlighted by the Chadian Koliang Palebele, head of the Pan African Farmers Organization. No more monoculture as a model of profitability. ” Specialized models, we have seen the risks: you specialize in corn, for example, and at the slightest economic or climatic shock, everything is goneexplains Sibiri Jean Zoundi, an economist specializing in agricultural issues and deputy director of the Sahel and West Africa club. We are going back to the basics of family farming, which is diversified. You don’t put your eggs in one basket. We do food production, there is small livestock, there is horticulture, small gardening, and so on. »
Because the essential is there, recalls Marc Debets, the president of Apexagri, a consulting firm specializing in the sector. ” There is an awareness today. Rent is not enough, agricultural production must be carried out that allows people to be fed and supported, and to recognize the added value of the farmers and breeders who do so.. »
« All value chains today aspire to multilocality or relocation for agriculture. And it’s even more true today, emphasizes Marc Debets once more. This global hyper-specialization makes no sense at all in terms of the sociological organization of the world, in terms of dependency, and the risks we take are crazy. »
However, this is not a step back, insists the scientific director of the Farm Foundation Matthieu Brun: « I believe this is the new modernity. And this is perhaps the greatest difficulty. When we talk regarding intensifying certain modes of production, the sustainable intensification of agriculture on the ecological, economic and social level is this new modernity. It’s not at all a throwback as you can hear in some speakers. On the contrary, it is a lot of complexity. It requires science, traditional knowledge and it requires organizing that because these are systems that are complex to manage. »
Valorization of local varieties, production of fertilizers on the continent and organization of value chains are also highlighted by specialists in the sector to fight once morest food insecurity.
