Fragmented Policies Hold Back Agroecology Adoption in Africa’s Congo Basin

Mohamed Abakar, Head of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition at the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) during the convening in Yaounde. Credit: Isaiah Esipisu/IPS by Isaiah Esipisu (yaounde, cameroon)Tuesday, September 29, 2026Inter Press Service YAOUNDE, Cameroon, September 29 (IPS) - Agricultural, land, forestry, environmental and trade policies in the Congo Basin remain compartmentalised at country levels, leaving proven agroecological models trapped at pilot stages due to a lack of advisory services, organic inputs, market outlets and sustainable financing. In a declaration made following the Second Congo Basin Convening on Agroecology held in Yaounde, Cameroon, in August 2026, experts and activists, as well as government representatives, observed that the Congo Basin does not end at the borders of its six countries.“The trade corridors, timber and charcoal markets, mining, energy and infrastructure investment, transhumance and pastoral movement, displacement and refugee flows, and shared river systems mean that the decisions of neighbouring states and regional bodies can protect the basin or degrade it, and that coherence between them is a condition of success,” r...