Building Food Sovereignty in Togo

This June, IPEN member Friends of the Earth-Togo launched a project on "Capacity building to consolidate food sovereignty in Togo - connecting to the movement in Africa.” The project aims by 2025 to ensure that food sovereignty and agroecology are considered essential to the achievement of women’s equality and environmental, social, economic justice.

Agroecology is an instrument of resilience for Togo, to preserve the country’s natural and nourishing heritage, revitalize local economies, and promote food security and autonomy. This regional advocacy aims to draw the attention to the importance of agroecological practices and to the obstacles that monocultures and agribusiness pose to the promotion of agroecology in Africa. 

The work will also be carried out with regional bodies such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union, and will include the key recommendations of the West African Right to Land, Water and peasant agroecology 2021, namely:  

• The establishment of mechanisms for better protection of the land heritage of local communities and the recognition of customary rights in land laws
• Harmonization of fisheries policies at the sub-regional level for better governance of fisheries resources
• The promotion of peasant agroecology for better protection of biodiversity and an alternative to climate change
• Taking appropriate measures to stop the selling off of forests in Africa, particularly those of Ziama and Diécké, in Guinea, by implementing the directives relating to the protection of forests
• The harmonization of mining codes at the sub-regional level by raising the share of States with a minimum rate of at least 35% and ensuring the application of Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility (CSR)
• The application of the Maputo agreement devoting 10% of the national budget to agriculture
• The implementation of the ECOWAS Protocol for the free movement of persons and goods and monitoring mechanisms for its better applicability at the border level
• Involvement of CGLTE-WA in the process of drafting and implementing development policies, particularly those relating to natural resources, as well as monitoring.

Friends of the Earth-Togo (FOE-Togo) intends through this project to promote the improvement of family food practices by sharing experiences. This project is implemented with the support of Friends of the Earth International. For more information, see the FOE-Togo websitBuildinge.