Healthy soil and sustainable growing

["Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>]

ISIS Report 09/05/11
African Union to Support Organic Farming
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/African_Union_to_Support_Organic_Farming.php
Lim Li Ching, Third World Network

An important milestone in sustainable agriculture for Africa was reached in a 
little-publicized decision made on organic farming by the African Union’s 
Executive Council in January 2011.

The decision requests the African Union (AU) Commission and its New 
Partnership for Africa’s Development Planning and Coordinating Agency to 
initiate and provide guidance for an AU-led coalition of international 
partners to establish an African organic farming platform based on available 
best practices; and to provide guidance in support of the development of 
sustainable organic farming systems and improve seed quality

In a speech given by Her Excellency Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, AU Commissioner 
for Rural Economy and Agriculture, to the Conference of African Ministers of 
Agriculture held in October 2010, which highlighted the potentials of 
ecological agriculture, she stressed that ecological agriculture generates 
both economic value and sustainable development: “We believe that promoting 
it in all of our countries would enable Africa to exploit this niche.”

The African Union had in 2008, co-organized a conference on ecological 
agriculture in Addis Ababa, together with the UN Food and Agriculture 
Organization (FAO) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of 
Ethiopia, and in collaboration with the Institute for Sustainable Development 
(ISD), Ethiopia and the Third World Network (TWN). That conference had 
concluded that ecological agriculture can provide food security and improve 
rural livelihoods for African farmers, as well as mitigate and help farmers 
adapt to climate change. At the time, Her Excellency had remarked that 
“Support and greater investment in smallholder farmers should be the path to 
end poverty in Africa”. It is hoped that the recent AU decision will herald 
the start of a concerted effort to that end.