With nearly all landscapes across Africa in decline, a transition to agroecology is no longer negotiable. But what it would take to transform agriculture and seed systems to another paradigm? In this session we draw on examples from South Africa, Malawi, Lesotho and Zimbabwe, to explore the way in which agroecology is already taken up by small-scale African farmers, its potential for addressing the climate and biodiversity emergencies faced, and the “lock-ins” and barriers that preclude the horizontal and vertical scaling up of agroecology. We also reflect on the epistemicide of both local and scientific knowledge, and what this loss means for smallholder farming communities, whose knowledges and skills have been silenced over generations. The session will also be used to introduce a new book titled African Perspectives on Agroecology: Why Farmer-Led Seed and Knowledge Systems Matter, which includes contributions from all of the panelists.

Rachel Bezner-Kerr: Building a reparative and resilient agroecology – reflections from Malawi.