African Americans working to build ties with Africa's farm organizations

Food First Friendship tour by African Americans to build partnerships with African Farmers working on African Agroecological Alternatives.

“Sankofa”
An African—African-American partnership to solve the global food crisis

In conjunction with its African Agroecological Alternatives project, Food First is launching a new "African American - Africa "Sankofa" Initiative to join our African partners in the struggle against the worsening global food crisis.

“Sankofa,” which means “that the past serves as a guide for planning the future or that there is nothing wrong with learning from hindsight” in Akan language from Ghana, is a recognition that the root causes of hunger: poverty, injustice, and an inequitable distribution of food-producing resources, affect both African farmers and African-American communities in the United States. We have much to learn from each other, and many possibilities for collaboration in the face of the global food crisis.

One of the first major activities of this new initiative will be to conduct two (2) fact-finding trips to Africa to open a dialogue between African farmers, farm organizations, farm projects and African civil society organizations with African-American counterparts in the United States. During our trip we will:

1. Meet and gather information directly from small-scale "subsistence" African farms about the challenges (problems), threats and opportunities they are encountering and how we may be of assistance in helping to improve their agricultural efforts and
general quality of life.

2. Visit projects promoting different approaches to agricultural development, including projects from the newly-launched AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa), the growing movement for African Agroecological Alternatives to the Green Revolution, and the well-established PELUM network (Participatory Ecological Land Use Management).

3. Convene meetings with representatives of small farm organizations, African think tanks, and local development organizations to hear perspectives on the challenges of small farmers and service organizations. (We are aware that only about 20% < of small African farmers are associated with farm organizations)

4. Collect relevant literature to add to Food First’s growing body of information on agricultural development, hunger and poverty in Africa, and to supplement our empirical on-the-ground perspectives.

“Sankofa” will document, analyze and share African—African-American experiences through video documentaries, press releases, timely reports, educational materials and public forums in order to open up informed public debate on the global food crisis and what African and African-American communities can do about it. We will use these materials to engage development institutions, foundations, government agencies, and farmer and community organizations in an open and informed dialogue regarding the causes and solutions to hunger and food insecurity in Africa and in African-American communities. Through Food First, “Sankofa” will communicate with a wide range of U.S. audiences, including churches, community groups, historical black colleges and universities, businesses, with an emphasis on increasing the awareness, knowledge and motivation for engagement among African Americans.

Food First will use the information gathered from these fact-finding trips in Africa to further develop its African Agroecological Alternatives program to help African partners in their efforts to improve agriculture and combat hunger and poverty in Africa. We will also link the Sankofa initiative with our current work on the global food crisis and with our efforts to support local organizations in the United States working to build healthy, equitable neighborhood food systems in underserved communities of color in the United States.

Agricultural development in Africa is currently at a critical fork in the road:

- One financed with foundation and industry support, leading down a path of chemical (dependency) based inputs, biotechnology, market-driven and unsustainable practices.

- And the “other” less financed and traveled, but offering better opportunities to improve food sovereignty, promote biodiversity, sustainability, empowerment of small farmers and bring about needed structural changes.

As a concerned African American who have been continuously involved in Africa’s development since 1968 and as President of Food First Board 2002-2008, I believe our role is to help “illuminate the paths” (road) so that small African farmers may clearly see where they lead… then get out of the way and let the farmers choose… I have faith in their ability to choose the right path, the path of Life and create real solutions to their problems.

Shyaam M. Shabaka, President Emeritus Board Member of
Food First, and Executive Director of EcoVillage Farm Learning Center