Calling for people-centered climate solutions rooted in Agroecology
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | 10 September 2025
We members and partners of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, gathered at the Africa Climate Summit 2 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, appreciate the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia for hosting this historic Second Africa Climate Summit. We salute youth, women, Indigenous Peoples, small-scale farmers, faith leaders, and civil society organisations who have gathered here in unity to propose solutions to this crisis, to which Africa has historically contributed very little.
African countries, despite their low contributions to global greenhouse gases, are the worst affected by the impacts of climate change. Africa is on the frontlines of climate change: prolonged droughts, destructive floods, rising temperatures, and shifting seasons are undermining food and nutrition security. Agricultural productivity has already dropped by more than 30% since 1961, the steepest decline globally (IPCC, 2022; FAO, 2021). Yet, Africa is not only a victim, but also a hub of climate solutions.
This Summit has advanced Africa’s voice; however, for us as civil society actors present here, the true test of ACS 2 lies in whether these commitments translate into people-led solutions that strengthen communities, uphold livelihoods, protect ecosystems and biodiversity, promote local markets and technologies, and advance a just energy transition.
Our Demands
A Just Transition for Africa
Africa must chart a path away from exploitative, industrial food systems and dirty energy, towards community-driven, humane, sustainable, and equitable systems. As Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed reminded us, “Africa must lead in championing solutions” and for us that means advancing food sovereignty by rejecting exploitative industrial animal agriculture, rejecting high use of synthetic fertilisers, rejecting grabbing of Africa’s resources in the name of greening projects, and rejecting carbon markets that come at the expense of communities while opening up polluting opportunities for especially the global north.
A just transition also means energy sovereignty where Africa controls and directs its own renewable energy pathways to serve its people, not external interests. Clean, decentralized energy systems should power agroecology, territorial markets, and resilient livelihoods, breaking dependence on imported fossil fuels and exploitative “green grabs.” Protecting workers, farmers, women, youth, and Indigenous Peoples, while ensuring no community is left behind, must remain at the heart of this shift.
Finance for People-Led Agroecology
Africa consistently faces a lack of adequate finance to meet the costs of adaptation. Less than 2% of global climate finance reaches small-scale producers, and even less supports agroecology (Biovision & IPES-Food, 2020). This must change. We call for direct climate finance that reaches farmer organisations, women’s groups, and youth-led enterprises. Agriculture and food systems require financing models that prioritize agroecological transformation, not industrial monocultures.
Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA)
As we look towards COP30, we emphasise that Africa does not just need a quick finalisation of indicators under the GGA. We need indicators that are people-centred measuring resilience, food security, ecosystem health, and equity without creating extra burdens on the food and agriculture sector and African food systems.
The path from Addis Ababa must lead directly into stronger African positions at COP30. Civil society, farmers, faith leaders, women, and youth are ready to hold governments and global partners accountable.
Call to Action
The path from Addis Ababa must lead directly into stronger African positions at COP30. Civil society, farmers, faith leaders, women, and youth are ready to hold governments and global partners accountable.
Africa has the power to chart a new course for food and climate justice. By embracing agroecology, food sovereignty, and energy sovereignty, Africa can protect its people, animals, and ecosystems while setting a global example of resilience and responsibility.
Agroecology has consistently demonstrated its effectiveness in restoring ecosystems, regenerating soils, enhancing animal welfare, biodiversity, and contributing to improved nutrition and human health. It integrates indigenous knowledge with ecological principles and innovation, while centering the rights and agency of farmers, women, and youth. Agroecology provides not only a technical pathway for climate adaptation and mitigation, but also a social and political movement reclaiming control over seeds, land, markets, energy, and food systems.
AFSA therefore urges African leaders and development partners to move decisively beyond rhetoric and make concrete commitments to institutionalize and finance agroecology, alongside people-centered renewable energy systems, as the backbone of Africa’s climate action and sovereignty.
Africa needs a turning point and can no longer afford to invest in failed models of industrial agriculture that worsen the crisis. The time is now to institutionalize and finance agroecology as Africa’s pathway to climate resilience, food sovereignty, and justice.
For more information contact:
Simon Bukenya, AFSA Program Officer, Agroecology and Climate Working Group simon.bukenya@afsafrica.org
