NAIROBI, July 17 (Xinhua) -- Millions of African smallholder farmers should be placed at the forefront of transitioning to nature-positive, sustainable, and climate-resilient food production systems across the continent, campaigners said Wednesday at a forum held in Nairobi, the Kenya's capital.
At the third edition of the Africa Protein Summit, convened by World Animal Protection (WAP), an international animal welfare charity, campaigners stressed that the continent's pursuit of a food-secure, green, and resilient future hinges on the adoption of ecologically sound farming practices at the smallholder level.
Tennyson Williams, regional director for Africa at the WAP, said the continent's smallholder farmers, who produce more than 70 percent of staple food, should be involved in formulating policies to facilitate a transition to agricultural practices that conserve habitats while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
"We need to empower smallholder farmers through capacity building, sustained funding, and awareness creation to facilitate food systems transformation, achieve climate resilience, and improve rural livelihoods," Williams said.
Kenya hosted the 2024 Africa Protein Summit under the theme "Towards Equitable, Humane, and Sustainable Systems: Creating Pathways Away from Industrial Animal Agriculture to Agro-Ecologically ecologically-produced Sustainable Foods."
Participants at the one-day summit, including senior policymakers, representatives of civil society, academia, and industry, renewed the call for a smallholder-led overhaul of food systems to tackle Africa's hunger crisis.
Million Belay, general coordinator of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, a green lobby based in the Ugandan capital of Kampala, said the continent's smallholder farmers and livestock keepers hold the key to speedy adoption of culturally and environmentally friendly food production systems.
Belay urged governments and donors to support African smallholder farmers in implementing agroecology, which promises food security, habitat regeneration, and reduced emissions of planet-warming gases.
As custodians of a vast wealth of genetic diversity, African smallholder farmers and herders are in a prime position to promote the cultivation of traditional foods that are nutritious and resistant to pests, diseases and climatic stresses, Belay said.
Philip Kilonzo, head of Policy, Advocacy and Communications at the Nairobi-based Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, said the continent is poised for a transition to a future free from hunger and malnutrition and resilient to climate emergencies, through the scaling up of smallholder farmers' innovations. ■