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By Correspondent-SA-
Evidence from ten countries shows farmer-led solutions are already working, while public finance and policy still favor industrial agriculture.
- New study demonstrates that agroecology can deliver comparable or greater yields than industrial agriculture. Evidence reviewed includes a 41% average rise in cereal yields from rotating legumes with cereals across Sub-Saharan Africa, an almost threefold increase in pigeon pea and sorghum yields in Tanzania, and maize yields up to twice as high in Zambian demonstration plots.
- Farmers can benefit before the transition to agroecology is complete. Lower input costs and more diverse crops and income streams can bring gains from the first year. Studies in Kenya found an average 37.8% increase in profits after a 1-3-year transition period, while yields may take three to five years to match or surpass conventional farming as soils and ecosystems recover.
- Agroecology is a strategic response to climate change. It helps soils retain water, stabilises yields during dry periods, restores ecosystem functions, and reduces reliance on synthetic industrial inputs. Studies cited in the report find agroecological farms can be two to four times more energy efficient than conventional farms.
- Public finance still favors industrial agriculture. In 2023-24, subsidies for mostly imported synthetic fertiliser and hybrid seeds absorbed 80% of Zambia’s agricultural budget and 50% of Zimbabwe’s, despite both countries developing agroecology strategies.
- Women are central to Africa’s food systems but face persistent barriers. Agrifood systems account for 66% of women’s employment in sub-Saharan Africa. Closing gender gaps in agricultural productivity and wages could add nearly US$1 trillion to global GDP and leave about 45 million fewer people facing food insecurity.
On World Food Day, ActionAid launches a new report: “Adapt to Thrive: Transforming Food Systems in Africa. “The Case for Investing in Agroecology” brings together research and experience from Ethiopia, the Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The study reveals that agroecology is a practical and scalable way to strengthen food security, rural economies, and climate resilience while restoring the ecological foundations of farming.
The report challenges the assumption that industrial agriculture is the only route to productivity at scale. It finds that dependence on imported synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and commercial seeds exposes farmers and governments to volatile prices, creates costly dependencies, and damages soils and biodiversity. By contrast, agroecology combines ecological science with farmers’ knowledge to reduce costs, diversify livelihoods, and make food systems more resilient to climate shocks.
Arthur Larok, the Secretary-General of ActionAid International, says, “This study brings together evidence from ten African countries showing that agroecology is both a climate solution and a profitable economic choice. Farmers are improving yields and income while reducing dependence on costly imported inputs and protecting the soils and ecosystems on which food production depends.”
“Through our Fund Our Future campaign, ActionAid is calling for public finance to stop fuelling industrial agriculture and instead support women, farmers, and communities already building workable solutions.”
The evidence also shows that the transition to agroecology requires time and support. Farmers can start saving on external inputs and diversifying crops and incomes in the first year, but yields may initially decline or fluctuate. Depending on soil degradation and the support available, they can take three to five years to match or surpass those of conventional farming.
Constance Okeke, International Project Manager for Scaling Up Public Investment in Agriculture at ActionAid International and one of the report’s coordinators, says, “The findings show that agroecology can compete on yield while delivering benefits that yield-only measures miss: lower costs, healthier soils, better nutrition, and greater resilience to drought and other climate shocks. But farmers cannot be expected to carry the risks of transition alone.”
“Women are at the centre of Africa’s food systems, yet unequal access to land, finance, technology, markets, and decision-making continues to restrict their leadership. Scaling agroecology means protecting women’s rights and investing in extension services, farmer-led seed systems, accessible technology and reliable markets so that farmers, women and young people can expand the solutions they already practise.”
Africa’s agroecological transition is already underway. Fifteen countries have developed or are developing national agroecology strategies, while 20 African governments and regional economic blocs have joined the Agroecology Coalition. The report argues that these commitments now need sustained public finance, enabling laws and coordinated action across policy, markets, knowledge systems, and technology.
In Tanzania, the report cites research showing that pigeon pea and sorghum yields almost tripled under agroecological approaches. Farmers trained through the national farmers’organizationn MVIWATA reported a 30% increase in production alongside better access to markets. In Janeth Nyamayahasi’s home village of Msanga, in Dodoma, farmers have established a community seed bank, two seed farms and demonstration plots to preserve and multiply Indigenous crops. After combining seed saving with other agroecological practices, Janeth harvested 12 bags of maize last season from a field that had previously produced four.
Janeth Nyamayahasi, a farmer from Msanga, Dodoma, says, “At our seed bank, farmers can borrow seeds during planting season and return them after harvest. This keeps our indigenous seeds alive in the community. When we protect our seeds, we protect our food, our culture, and our future.”
Bavon Christopher, Country Director of ActionAid Tanzania, says, “In Tanzania, the figures reflect changes farmers can feel directly. Farmers across the country are showing that agroecology can increase production while strengthening local seed systems and reducing dependence on costly external inputs.
“The results from Msanga and MVIWATA show what can be achieved when policy and investment support their knowledge.”
“To take these results beyond individual projects, Tanzania and other African countries need long-term public investment, well-resourced extension services, farmer-managed seed systems, and local markets that pay fair prices. Funding must cover the full transition, which at the landscape level can require support for up to a decade.”
ActionAid and its allies are calling for governments and international institutions to:
African governments and regional bodies should adopt and implement laws and policies that support agroecology at national, sub-regional, and continental levels; protect rural women’s rights to land and natural resources; and remove regulatory barriers. East African governments’ representatives in the East African Legislative Assembly should vote in favor of the 2026 EALA Agroecology Bill.
African governments are to honor their Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme commitment to allocate at least 10% of national budgets to agriculture, ensure that at least 30% of agricultural spending supports agroecological approaches by 2035, and redirect at least one-third of agricultural subsidies from industrial inputs towards agroecology by the same year.
The African Union and African governments to protect Indigenous and farmer-managed seed systems. The AU should advance its farmer-managed seed framework, while national laws should protect farmers’ rights to produce, save, and exchange their own seeds and support locally controlled bio-input systems.
The African Union, the African Group of Negotiators, and allies to champion agroecology in the lead-up to COP31 and recognize it within African climate positions as a practical response for mitigation, adaptation, and protecting farmers’ livelihoods.
The African Development Bank and other funders should adopt clear agroecology indicators for agricultural finance, stop labelling industrial agriculture as ‘climate-smart,’ prioritise grant-based support, and fund the full transition period rather than relying on short project cycles.
Governments and funding partners to invest in extension, participatory research and farmer-to-farmer learning, inclusive markets and public procurement, appropriate technology, and coordinated financial, technical, and advisory support that prevents transition risks from falling on smallholders, rural women, and young people.
