The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has called for increased investment in agroecology to strengthen Africa’s food security, climate resilience and sustainable agricultural development.

Hussein Gadain, FAO representative in Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), made the call on Monday while addressing the Agricultural Fund for Sustainable Agriculture (AGRECOFARM) final conference in Abeokuta.

The event was held at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB).

Mr Gadain, represented by Nifesimi Ogunkua, FAO Nigeria climate change specialist, said agroecology offers practical pathways to address Africa’s food, environmental and socioeconomic challenges.

He said Africa’s agrifood systems are under exceptional pressure, noting that about 307 million Africans experienced hunger in 2024, representing roughly one in five people.

The FAO representative said agroecology should not be regarded as a fixed package of technologies but as a systems approach adapted to local ecological, economic and cultural realities.

He listed FAO’s 10 elements of agroecology: diversity, synergies, efficiency, recycling, resilience, knowledge sharing, social values, culture, responsible governance and circular economy.

He said education remains critical to agricultural transformation, stressing that universities must produce graduates who can address interconnected challenges involving soil, climate, finance, markets, biodiversity and nutrition.

He urged universities to make agroecology education practical by equipping students with skills to design interventions, build enterprises, analyse landscapes, and translate science into policy.

The FAO specialist said Nigeria is increasingly moving from isolated agricultural practices toward a broader agrifood systems transformation through policies addressing research, value chains, climate-smart agriculture and finance.

He said FAO’s interventions in Ondo and Cross River states have trained more than 30,000 smallholder farmers and supported restoration, agroforestry and biodiversity conservation.

Mr Gadain, however, identified weak land tenure, limited finance, inadequate extension and shortage of quality planting materials as major constraints to agroecological transition.

He said digital transformation should also support agroecology by improving access to climate information, early warning systems, farm data, finance, research, and markets.

He outlined priority areas for Africa, including stronger linkages between farmers, policymakers, and scientists; improved extension services; landscape planning; increased investment; market access; inclusion of women and youth; and better measurement of outcomes.

“Agroecology must become investable through transition finance, concessional credit, guarantees, blended finance, insurance and incentives rewarding sustainable agricultural practices.

“There is a need for stronger value chains through aggregation, processing, certification, traceability, storage, logistics and reliable market access to create income opportunities for farmers.

“Universities and young professionals should develop solutions addressing agriculture’s interconnected challenges. Africa needs problem-solvers capable of linking science, enterprise, ecosystems and policy,” he said.

Pietro Picuno, coordinator of the AGRECOFARM project, advocated stronger African-European university collaboration to promote sustainable agriculture.

Mr Picuno, of the University of Basilicata, Italy, disclosed that the project brought together six African universities with European partners to develop academic programmes combining theory and practical agroecological farming knowledge.

“The project’s achievements include 35 scientific papers presented at the conference. Agroecology continues to spread globally, and Africa needs stronger academic capacity to adapt it to local farming systems,” he said.

The Vice Chancellor of FUNAAB, Olusola Kehinde, called for greater investment in agroecology education and research.

Mr Kehinde said traditional agricultural systems across sub-Saharan Africa face pressure from population growth, industrialisation, mechanisation and climate change, thereby threatening food security and biodiversity.

The vice chancellor said the project was established to develop knowledge and human capacity to address Africa’s agricultural and environmental challenges through agroecology.

Mr Kehinde urged researchers and students to maximise the conference’s mentoring, paper, poster and networking sessions, expressing optimism that deliberations would produce partnerships and practical solutions. 

(NAN)