Protecting the seeds of life: Our duty to defend African farmers
By Francesca Merlo
Another case of mulitmillion dollar industries and those who hold power in the world working together to get richer as the poorest of our world suffer the consequences.
This time it is farmers, particularly in Africa, who are being targeted, and it is the European Union that is violating their rights.
Uniting in protest
As ministers and policymakers prepared to meet in Rome to shape the future of Africa–EU relations, voices at the grassroots level gathered and made themselves heard.
On the 26th of June, the eve of the African Union and European Union Agricultural Ministerial, civil society organisations, farmers, and Church representatives came together at Rome’s Circo Massimo Farmer’s Market, co-hosted by Italy’s Campagna Amica, to address some of the issues that would be raised the next day.
Witnessing the criminalisation of farmers' livelihoods
Speaking to Vatican News shortly after the meeting, Emmanuel Yap, Food and Land Policy Officer at CIDSE - a global network of Catholic social justice organisations - explained why this moment was critical. “We are witnessing a slow criminalisation of traditional farming practices,” he said. “Farmers’ rights to save, exchange and sell their seeds - rights recognised by the United Nations - are being eroded by laws that favour multinational seed corporations.”
He explained that these laws are being pushed through Economic Partnership Agreements with several African nations and that they threaten to replace biodiversity with uniformity. Farmers, many of whom rely on centuries-old seed traditions that over time have adapted to their climates and cultures, are being pressured into buying patented seeds that demand fertilisers and pesticides to survive.
“We’re talking about seeds that yield only under high-input conditions,” said Yap. “And once a farmer buys them, they can’t legally save or replant. They must buy again, every season.”
For communities whose livelihoods depend entirely on the land - and many do - the consequences are immense. What may appear as ‘development’ from far away has, in practice, resulted in debt, depleted soil, lost autonomy, as well as a huge threat to biodiversity.
Despite the biased dynamic and its adverse consequences, the European Union offers trade and development incentives to African nations that accept these seed laws, often within the framework of Economic Partnership Agreements. These may include access to European markets, financial aid, and promises of agricultural investment - all framed as efforts to boost food security and modernise agriculture.
However, we have learned, this is far from the truth.
Learning from history
Yap, who is from the Philippines, has spent years working with farmers in his home country. He draws on history and recalls the Green Revolution, which promised miracles through high-yielding rice varieties, only to trap generations in cycles of input dependence and indebtedness. “At first, the yields were impressive,” he said. “But 20 years later, the farmers came back in debt. The soil was tired. The pesticides had poisoned more than pests", he warned.
Europe has since banned many of these pesticides for their devastating health and environmental effects. Despite this, it continues to export them, particularly to Africa. In the last 15 years alone, exports of banned pesticides to the continent have doubled. “It’s a double standard,” Yap said. “And it’s immoral.”
The question is: Why, if it is not good enough for you, is it good enough for us?
It is in this immorality that the Church's voice resonates.
MAP Francis’ encyclical on care for our common home, has been pivotal in outlining the roots for how we should behave regarding our natural world. Yap noted that it reminds us that creation is not a resource to be exploited but a gift to be protected. “The Church has a crucial role,” said Yap, "in bridging farmers, communities, and decision-makers and in making their voices heard.”
Hope in agroecology
Yap continued with a message of hope. He emphasised the work being done by the African Union, which is currently developing a policy framework to support farmer-managed seed systems. There is movement, Yap said, but it must be matched by resistance to policies that place corporate profit above the dignity and sovereignty of farmers.
“There are alternatives,” he added. “Agroecology is not a theory, it’s a reality. In the Philippines, farmers are breeding rice varieties that thrive without chemicals. It’s slower, yes. But it’s sustainable and it respects the land.”
And it's true. Agroecology is expanding, and organisations are working to implement it across the world. In India, Zambia and Brazil, amongst others, farmers are putting their trust in nature as we knew it, and the fruits are showing.
“We must protect biodiversity,” Yap concluded. “Not only because it feeds us, but because it holds the wisdom and resilience we need to face the climate crisis.”
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