On June 27, African and European agriculture ministers will gather in Rome for the 6th AU-EU Agriculture Ministerial Conference. This comes against a backdrop of a worsening climate crisis, soaring inequalities, and rising hunger. Nearly one in five people in Africa - close to 300 million - now face food insecurity.
The stakes could not be higher. The decisions made in Rome could lay the foundations for food systems that are just, sustainable and deeply rooted in communities. A far cry from the current emphasis on an industrial, export-led agricultural system dominated by large corporations.
Corporate Interests vs. Community Needs
The meeting’s agenda focuses on investment, sustainability, innovation, and trade. However, these discussions too often put corporate profits first, ignoring the needs of and solutions from communities. This jeopardises African food sovereignty and the development of local food markets.
In addition, the disproportionate focus on ‘innovation’ through corporate technology risks perpetuating neocolonial dependencies, displacing traditional knowledge systems and sidelining small-scale food producers. These technologies – such as hybrid or GMO seeds, and chemical fertilisers and pesticides – are more often than not owned by powerful multinationals.
Another major concern is the EU’s Global Gateway strategy. This so-called flagship strategy is the EU’s development response to a changing and complex geopolitical context. However, it risks turning African food systems into a highway for European exports and private sector profits, rather than supporting locally led development. It could push aside the very people who grow the food and play a pivotal role in African socio-economic development.
Our Food, our Future
Across both continents, farmers, fishers, Indigenous Peoples, women’s groups, youth movements and other civil society groups have come together to demand profound change. They call for democratic and human rights-based food policies, as well as for food sovereignty and agroecology, to be at the heart of AU-EU cooperation.
Their statement, “Food Sovereignty through Agroecology: A People’s Agenda for AU-EU Cooperation,” outlines 10 key recommendations for transforming the policy and investments into agri-food systems. These recommendations are simple and urgent, and they directly address the grim reality of the nearly 300 million people in Africa facing hunger and malnutrition.
What We Demand
Africa’s future should not be shaped by the agenda of big corporations. We need food systems that feed people and protect ecosystems, not just generate profits for a few. To achieve this, our coalition calls for EU and AU decision-makers to:
- Redirect finance away from fossil fuel-based, export-focused industrial agriculture and direct public funding towards agroecological, people-centred food systems.
- Protect African seeds by rejecting restrictive EU-based intellectual property rules that criminalize farmers’ traditional seed-sharing practices and by legally recognising farmers’ seeds.
- Ensure human rights and environmental due diligence across all agri-food investments, aligning them with the EU’s Corporate Sustainable Due Diligence Directive and the AU’s commitments to food security.
- End land and ocean grabbing by promoting fair access to natural resources for local communities and food producers, especially women and youth.
- Rethink trade by reviewing current trade agreements, including Economic Partnership Agreements, to protect small businesses and informal economies of Africa, and regulate imports that harm the development of local markets.
We also urge for better alignment between AU and EU policies in trade, climate, energy, and development. These policies must uphold the right to food, environmental justice, and democratic governance.
A Pivotal Moment for Change
Both regions are reviewing key frameworks. The AU launched a new 10-year Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), but with limited focus on agroecology. Meanwhile, the EU is redefining its role in the world while its largest economies are scaling back Official Development Assistance (ODA). In 2024 alone, EU ODA has dropped by 8.6%.
These trends make it more urgent than ever to reset the AU-EU partnership with the transformation of food systems at its core. We need a partnership that prioritizes justice, sustainability, and dignity, not extraction. The future of our food systems, and our planet, depends on it.