November 15 – 16, 2011 at the UNEP Headquarters in Nairobi/Kenya
The need for greater uptake of people centred ecological agriculture practices and systems are now widely recognised, but solutions proposed for increasing food security in Africa are still predominately based on the industrialisation of African agriculture and the intensification of economically and environmentally unsustainable imported input products.
The conference aimed to re-address the balance and build awareness of accessible and resilient organic based production systems and position ecological organic agriculture higher on the agenda of African governments, policy makers and the international donor community.
The conference was jointly organized by the:
- International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM)
- African Union
- Kenyan Organic Agriculture Network (KOAN), and
- COLABORA.
The conference was hosted by UNEP.
Some 200 participants from 20 countries throughout the world attended the conference, including representatives from farmers' organizations, governments, inter-governmental institutions, UN agencies, national and international NGOs, private sector, universities, and research institutions.
For further information, please contact
Hervé Bouagnimbeck (h.bouagnimbeck@ifoam.org).
Documents and Presentations
CONFERENCE REPORT
THE NAIROBI DECLARATION FOR AN ECOLOGICAL ORGANIC ALTERNATIVE FOR AFRICA
Opening Remarks - Andre Leu (IFOAM President)
Opening Keynote Address - H.E. Tumusiime Rhoda Peace (Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture African Union Commission)
Opening Keynote Speech (Video) - Achim Steiner (UNEP Director)
IAASTD report and Rio+20: the pressing need for change in agriculture - Hans Herren (Biovision & Millennium Institute)
The organic solution - the Commercial benefits of organic agriculture in Africa - Moses. K. Muwanga (NOGAMU, Uganda)
The organic solution - creating sustainable farming systems in the Sinai Desert - Helmy Abouleish (SEKEM, Egypt)
The organic solution – newTrees for Sahel - Franziska Kaguembèga-Müller (newTree, Burkina Faso)
The organic solution - restoring land and livelihoods in Ethiopia - Sue Edwards (Institute for Sustainable Development, Ethiopia)
Laudatio in Honor of the late Prof. Wangari Maathai - Bärbel Höhn (Member of the Federal German Parliament - Green Party; Former Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Consumer Affairs in North Rhine Westphalia)
AU-Supportive Policies in Organic Farming - Sarah Olembo (African Union Commission, Ethiopia)
Organic Agriculture on “Centre Stage” in Africa - Nnimmo Bassey (Friends of the Earth International)
Organic Standards in East Africa - Gunnar Rundgren (IFOAM, Sweden)
The African Organic Manual - What can we hope to achieve with? - Gian Nicolay (FiBL, Switzerland)
The 2nd organic agriculture conference May 2012 in Zambia - Munshimbwe Chitalu (OPPAZ, Zambia)