African Governments to Defend Food Systems Sovereignty and Resilience of Against Corporate Digitalization

• Declare Support for Africa Ministers of Environment Decision to Reject Solar Geoengineering

 

Over 130 experts from 33 African countries have jointly reaffirmed a shared commitment to defend Africa’s food sovereignty and protect small-scale producers from the encroachment of extractive, corporate-driven digitalization.

The experts warn that the convergence of artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, robotics, data platforms, genomics, lab-grown proteins, and geoengineering is transforming agriculture in ways that risk deepening inequality and threatening local livelihoods.

This declaration was committed to in Addis Ababa at the First Pan-African Convening on the Future of Biodigital Technologies in Food and Agriculture, an event co-organized by the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), the African Technology Assessment Platform (AfriTAP), and the ETC Group.

The three-day convening brought together farmers, pastoralists, fisherfolk, women, youth, scientists, policymakers, Indigenous peoples, civil society organizations, and social movements to examine the growing influence of digital and biological technologies on Africa’s food systems.

At the convention, delegates highlighted how the rapid digitalization of agriculture often replicates colonial patterns of exploitation, with African data and resources being mined to serve global technology industries. They raised concerns about ecological degradation caused by data centers and mineral extraction, surveillance through biometric-based subsidy systems, and what some described as “biopiracy 2.0”, the digitization and patenting of indigenous seeds and livestock genetics.

The discussions underscored the dangers of corporate capture of agricultural data, energy-intensive digital infrastructure, and the displacement of smallholder farmers through digital credit systems that create new forms of dependency.

Despite these concerns, participants acknowledged that digital tools could strengthen African food movements if applied in ways that enhance local knowledge exchange, connect markets, and empower farmers. However, they cautioned that technology should serve communities—not corporations—and must be guided by the principles of agroecology, equity, and sovereignty.

The convening issued a Call to Action urging African governments to:

• Support agroecological food systems and farmer control over data;
• Protect plant genetic resources and uphold seed sovereignty;
• Ensure inclusive participation of women, youth, and marginalized groups in policymaking around digital agriculture;
• Promote transparency in public–private partnerships; and
• Develop continental frameworks for digital governance and biosafety, rooted in African values such as Ubuntu and international human rights declarations.

Civil society groups were encouraged to intensify public awareness on;

• The potential harms of unregulated digitalization,
• Foster grassroots innovation, and
• Strengthen collaboration between food sovereignty, environmental justice, and digital rights movements.

The convening also reaffirmed support for the 2025 African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN20) decision rejecting solar geoengineering, emphasizing Africa’s right to self-determination in technological development.