New Report Warns AfCFTA and Post-Malabo Agricultural Policies Risk Undermining Africa’s Smallholder Farmers and Seed Sovereignty
[Nairobi, 6 March 2025] – A groundbreaking new report reveals that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) will further marginalize smallholder farmers, who produce over 80% of the continent’s food. Unless urgent policy changes are made, AfCTA and the Post-Malabo Roadmap will deepen food and nutrition insecurity, erode seed biodiversity, and entrench corporate control over Africa’s food and seed systems.
With the 2014 Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) Malabo Declaration set to conclude in 2025, discussions for a Post-Malabo Roadmap are gaining momentum. However, the report highlights a stark contradiction: while Africa’s smallholder farmers remain the backbone of the food system, agricultural supply chains are being increasingly captured by multinational agribusinesses, facilitated by policies that prioritize industrial agriculture over farmer-led seed and food systems.
Key Findings of the Report:
- Corporate Capture of Africa’s Agriculture:Trade policies under AfCFTA are accelerating the expansion of corporate-controlled seeds and agro-inputs, pushing smallholder farmers out of seed markets and threatening Africa’s food sovereignty.
- Weak Biosafety Protections:11 AfCFTA State Parties have authorized GMO field trials and/or commercial production, yet the AfCFTA IPR Protocol lacks biosafety provisions, increasing the risk of genetic contamination in FMSS.
- UPOV 1991 Threatens Farmers’ Rights:The alignment of AfCFTA’s Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Protocol with UPOV 1991 strengthens corporate control over plant varieties, restricting farmers’ ability to save, exchange, and sell seeds.
- Patent Theft and Biopiracy Risks:The lack of explicit disclosure provisions in AfCFTA’s IPR Protocol opens the door for multinational corporations to exploit farmers’ traditional knowledge without consent or fair benefit-sharing.
- AGRA’s Influence Over AfCFTA:A new MoU between AGRA and the AfCFTA Secretariat risks further entrenching corporate dominance in agricultural policymaking, sidelining smallholder farmers and agroecology.
Recommendations for Action:
The report calls for urgent reforms to ensure the AfCFTA and post-Malabo agricultural policies prioritize food sovereignty, agroecology, and farmers’ rights, including:
- A Standalone Annex on Farmers’ Rights, FMSS, and Seed Sovereigntywithin the AfCFTA IPR Protocol.
- Biosafety Regulationsto prevent GMOs from contaminating farmer-managed seed systems.
- Stronger Protection Against Biopiracythrough explicit disclosure requirements and benefit-sharing provisions.
- A Shift Away from UPOV 1991 Alignmenttowards a sui generis seed governance system that supports smallholder farmers.
- Reassessing AGRA’s Rolein AfCFTA’s agricultural policy development to prevent corporate overreach.
Despite the challenges, the report highlights growing momentum for change, as Africa embraces agroecology, strengthens FMSS, and promotes policies aligned with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants (UNDROP) and the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.
Quotes from Key Stakeholders:
- Jean Paul Sikeli, SE COPAGEN, said:”If Africa is to achieve true food sovereignty, it must break free from corporate seed dependency and invest in policies that protect smallholder farmers, biodiversity, and traditional seed systems.”
- Bright Phiri, CSAP, added:”The AfCFTA should be a tool for strengthening intra-African trade in farmer-managed seeds and food, not a vehicle for multinational corporations to dominate African agriculture.”
Launch Event & Availability of the Report:
The new report warning of AfCFTA & Post-Malabo risks to smallholder farmers & seed sovereignty is officially launched today in Nairobi. A panel of experts in agroecology, food sovereignty, and agricultural trade policy will discuss its findings.
DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT HERE:
UNPACKING THE AfCFTA PROTOCOL ON INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
Download Fact Sheets
http://afsafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/fact-sheet_1_afcfta-seed-sovereignity-1-1.docx
http://afsafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/fact-sheet_2_afcfta-food-security-2-1.docx
For media inquiries, interviews, or more information, please contact:
- Mamadou Goïta, IRPAD Mali, mamadou_goita@yahoo.fr
- Chris Macolo, World Neighbours, cmacoloo@wn.org
- Frances Davies, Seed and Knowledge initiatives, frances@seedandknowledge.org
- Tabbita Munyiry, Seed Savers Network, tabbymunyiri@seedsaverskenya.org
- Famara Diédhiou, AFSA secretariat, diedhiou@afsafrica.org
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