Charity urges governments to shift subsidies as Zambia and Zimbabwe spend up to 80% and 50% of farm budgets on synthetic inputs
By Bunmi Yekini
When Janeth Nyamayahasi started saving indigenous seed and using agroecological methods on her farm in Msanga, in Tanzania’s Dodoma region, her field produced 12 bags of maize last season. The same plot used to yield four.
Her village now runs a community seed bank, two seed farms and demonstration plots for sorghum, millet and cowpeas. Farmers borrow seed at planting time and return it after harvest.
“When we protect our seeds, we protect our food, our culture, and our future,” Nyamayahasi said.
Her results feature in a new report by anti-poverty group ActionAid, released on World Food Day, which argues that agroecology can raise yields, cut costs and strengthen climate resilience across Africa. The report, “Adapt to Thrive”, draws on a review of Ethiopia, the Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Agroecology is farming that works with natural processes, using methods such as crop rotation, composting, natural pest control and farmer-saved seed in place of imported fertiliser and pesticides.
Among the findings cited:
- Rotating legumes with cereals raised cereal yields by an average of 41% across sub-Saharan Africa.
- Pigeon pea and sorghum yields almost tripled in Tanzania.
- Maize yields in Zambian demonstration plots were up to twice those of conventional plots.
- Studies in Kenya found an average 37.8% rise in profits after a one-to-three-year transition.
Farmers trained through Tanzania’s national farmers’ organisation MVIWATA reported a 30% increase in production, the report said.
The report acknowledges the switch carries risk. Yields can fall or fluctuate at first, and a chart in the report shows a temporary dip of 10% to 35% depending on soil condition. It can take three to five years to match conventional farming, and labour needs initially rise.
“Farmers cannot be expected to carry the risks of transition alone,” said Constance Okeke, an ActionAid International project manager and one of the report’s coordinators.
ActionAid said public money still favours industrial agriculture. In 2023-24, subsidies for largely imported synthetic fertiliser and hybrid seed took 80% of Zambia’s agricultural budget and 50% of Zimbabwe’s, even though both are developing agroecology strategies.
The group is calling on African governments to meet the 10% agriculture budget target under the continent’s CAADP farm policy framework. It also wants at least 30% of agricultural spending to support agroecology by 2035 and at least one-third of subsidies redirected from industrial inputs. It urged East African lawmakers to back the 2026 East African Legislative Assembly Agroecology Bill.
“This study brings together evidence from ten African countries showing that agroecology is both a climate solution and a profitable economic choice,” ActionAid International Secretary-General Arthur Larok said.
Fifteen African countries have developed or are developing national agroecology strategies, and 20 governments and regional blocs have joined the Agroecology Coalition, the report said.