Local Step That Changed An Entire Country’s Approach to Agroecology

Danielle Nierenberg

Danielle Nierenberg

Here at Food Tank, we talk a lot about the power of optimism and community solidarity to combat feelings of hopelessness and helplessness. And these are not abstract conversations! On the ground around the world, true food system transformation starts with local success stories like the one I want to share with you today. 

Over the past couple years, Kenya has celebrated a number of local agroecology wins that can illuminate the path forward for countries around the globe.

The story starts in Murang'a County, a predominantly agricultural county in south-central Kenya. In 2022, leaders there passed the Agroecology Development Act and enacted a 10-year agroecology policy. The legislation was the first of its kind in the country—and was a powerful recognition of the transformative effects of agroecology, from food systems to climate resilience to youth empowerment to Indigenous food sovereignty.

Since then, momentum has grown! Last year, four more counties launched their own agroecology policies, and five more have advance legislation in the works with support from organizations like the Participatory Ecological Land Use Management Association (PELUM).

PELUM is a network of civil society organizations working with small-scale farmers in East, Central, and Southern Africa to strengthen agroecology through policy work, network capacity development, knowledge sharing, and more.

“Agroecology has been feeding the world and will continue to feed the world,” Rosinah Mbenya, the Country Coordinator for PELUM Kenya, told me on the Food Talk podcast this week. 

And national leaders have taken notice, too. In 2024, Kenya adopted the National Agroecology Strategy for Food System Transformation, which aims to promote a sustainable transformation of Kenya’s food and agriculture systems to build nutrition security, climate-safe livelihoods, and social inclusion. By integrating and coordinating local approaches at the national level, the Strategy is helping Kenya bring about more resilient, long-lasting change than county-level governments alone could.

Agroecology is “a practice, a science, and a social movement,” Million Belay, General Coordinator of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, tells Food Tank.

And as Rosinah explained on Food Talk this week, other legal wins in Kenya have helped build a brighter food system. A recent court decision affirmed farmers’ right to save, share, and exchange seeds—which had not always been guaranteed, she said. And last summer, Kenyan policymakers banned more than 75 pesticides and tightened restrictions on hundreds more that are linked with health complications and climate impacts.

“Agroecology builds resilience,” she said. “In Africa, we need solutions that enable the community to be adaptive to climate change.”

But investment is still lagging far behind, she said. The public demand and policy frameworks are falling into place, and it’s time for the private sector to step up and scale up agroecology.

“There is a lot of work that needs to go into capacity-building,” she said, but without investments into landscape transformation, youth- and women-focused initiatives, and other on-the-ground efforts, “there’s usually that gap. But I’m looking forward to seeing more investments so that we can have increased financing and attention.”

I hope you’ll take a moment to listen to my whole conversation with Rosinah Mbenya of PELUM Kenya on today’s episode of Food Talk by CLICKING HERE.

Rosinah reminded me that local steps matter toward building a better food system for the next generation! Making a change in your neighborhood, in your city, or in your county can have much wider ripple effects across your entire country or even continent. 

I hope you’ll keep the momentum going by sharing grassroots progress in your communities. Email me at danielle@foodtank.com, and let’s keep shining a spotlight on the success stories that’ll transform our food systems! 

(Danielle Nierenberg Is the President of Food Tank and can be reached at danielle@foodtank.com)