Nigeria’s former president and Africa’s senior statesman, Olusegun Obasanjo, once said that “A nation that cannot feed itself will be enslaved. This is why agriculture is the cornerstone of our development strategies”. President Obasanjo’s statement remains relevant today as it was a decade ago. The senior statesman’s statement is a call for Africa to embark on a journey to food security through agriculture. While the continent answered this call, through the launch of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP), more than two decades ago, challenges abound with respect to ensuring that Africa’s aspiration to food security is achieved, and sustainably so.
But how can the continent become food secure while at the same time confronting the perils of climate change?
The answer lies in sustainable agriculture. Far be it from this article asserting that sustainable agriculture laws and policies are nonexistent in Africa. The vast majority of African states have got laws and policies which steer their sustainable agricultural activities. Others are currently enacting those laws and policies in order to be in consonance with the prevailing global sustainability trend. The continent, however, lacks a common legal framework to guide sustainable agriculture. This is in spite of similarities in climatic conditions, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. What comes closer to a legal framework for sustainable agriculture in Africa is the Malabo Declaration of 2014. This is an aspirational framework adopted by the African Union Heads of State and Governments in 2014. Among other things, the Malabo Declaration commits to end hunger in Africa by ensuring that the continent is food secure by 2025. There is no mention of sustainability in the Declaration.
Compare the above aspirational framework to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union (EU). The European Commission (the civil service of the EU) relies on the CAP to push for sustainable agriculture across the 27 EU member states. The EU is not alone in adopting common legal and policy frameworks on sustainable agriculture. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) adopted its own Regional Guidelines for Sustainable Agriculture as recent as October 2022. This framework provides policymakers within ASEAN member states with a general outline of new sustainable and circular agricultural policies which should form part of their policies. The Organization of American States (OAS) has not been left behind in this regard. Through its Department of Sustainable Development (DSD), the OAS provides support to its member states in implementing sustainable agricultural policies.
Way forward?
There is an African adage which says that if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together. It underscores the importance of common action. African nations must, therefore, decide whether they will continue ‘going alone’ as far as sustainable agricultural policies are concerned or work together to form a unified legal framework for sustainable agriculture in the continent. The problem with the ‘alone’ approach is the proliferation of fragmented policies throughout individual African nations. These fragmented policies are likely to be at odds with each other. Such policies may even be a source of conflict among neighboring African nations which share common natural resources such as lakes, rivers and water towers. In view of the demerits of the ‘alone’ approach, the ‘going together’ approach seems to be the most sensible. After all, the realization of the aspiration to food security in Africa is a ‘journey of a thousand miles.’ It is an aspiration that requires a multi-faceted approach and multiple players.
What does a common sustainable agriculture policy for Africa look like?
A sustainable agricultural policy for Africa should not necessarily require every African nation to implement homogenous agricultural legal frameworks. It should leave room for African nations to draft agricultural policies which reflect their national circumstances. A common policy, however, should be able to guide African nations’ sustainable agriculture practices which ensure reliable food supply while at same time improving soil health, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and protecting biodiversity. It should also provide African Union (AU) member states with a platform for seeking technical and financial assistance where the implementation of such policies proves to be an uphill task for poor African nations.
Africa is not that far off the mark as far as the formulation and operationalization of a common sustainable agricultural legal framework is concerned. After all, the continent has the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) to guide its agricultural policy. What this program lacks is the sustainability aspect as well as legal impetus. It, however, lays the ground for a continent-wide common legal framework. Reforming this program is one way of answering Pres. Obasanjo’s call for Africa to feed herself. After all, Africa is not devoid of such capacity.
