Opening to the agroecological community of africa

By Jackie Cahi

In September the village opened herself to Africa. Kufunda hosted two back to back conferences and for two weeks the village was alive with many languages, bright colours, traditional foods, dancing, African ritual, celebration and conversation.

And tech!  We had booths and headsets for simultaneous translation, huge screens for presentations, a sound system to give us music (and enable all voices to be heard), and walkie talkies to call each other across distances.

We felt the ancestors with us from across Africa as we welcomed more than 30 African countries and almost 400 people into our village over the two week period.

The village was alive and lively….. and also able to offer peace, contemplation and connection.

The organisations calling these gatherings are part of our ecosystem, focusing on Agroecology, sustainable farming, spiritual connection with the land, honouring African tradition and those who have gone before, challenging the status quo of industrial farming, extractive damaging practices and seed monopolies. 

The first conference was a Tripartite Event convened by AFSA – Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa and comprised the African Agroecological entrepreneurship and territorial markets convening, The Good Food and Seed Festival and the 5th Biennial Food Systems Conference focusing on the power of celebration. We hosted two days at Kufunda and two days in a huge tent at the Food Festival itself,

The second conference was a Learning Exchange hosted by the Agroecological Fund to explore economic dimensions and possibilities within agroecology and primarily to learn from each other especially from African experiences and knowledge.

The participants were amazing. Many passionate and knowledgeable entrepreneurs, farmers, researchers, traders shared their ideas, their experiences, their dreams, their work and ideas, their products, their cultures and their joy. We learned so much – from cross border trading in East Africa, to Calabash savings societies in West Africa, to entrepreneurs baking breads and creating new economies with indigenous grains and flours, to Territorial Markets in Tunisia – and the deep spiritual connection and land honouring from the Chief who graced us from Benin.

We talked seriously about how to engage governments, how to invite and unlock government participation and how to help funders embrace generative ways to support this work that helps heal the planet, keeps us in rhythm with the seasons and the earth, and feed her people.  

Participants appreciated being in the village as well as the facilitation style, our Art of Hosting. We walked the fine edge of chaos as over 20 people in the kitchen stoked fires, stirred pots, chopped meat and vegetables, and graciously served meal after meal.  We even provided a remote breakfast on site at the Botanical Gardens, frying eggs to order and making breakfast sandwiches. Kufundees kept our composting toilets sweet smelling with fresh sawdust, hauled water and wood, swept and scrubbed and served, and radiated good energy. It was hot and dusty – Zimbabwe is aching for rain – though the West and East Africans didn’t feel the heat, calling our sun mild by comparison!

It was a wonderful challenge to facilitate the gathering as well as to cope with the logistics of catering and accommodating so many people. We are so pleased we did it, that we rose to the challenge, enlarged our experience and made ourselves visible to our broader African family.  These words of appreciation from Prince Atawe Akoyi of Benin highlight the resonance and joy that we felt in these weeks.

"My stay at Kufunda was an unforgettable and enriching experience. I had the opportunity to discover a community that lives in perfect harmony with nature, embodying the principles of agroecology. This encounter deeply impacted me and allowed me to better understand the values and practices that make this model village thrive.

This experience was a source of inspiration for my own project, "Graine Future", a shared knowledge center dedicated to promoting agroecology and sustainability. I am convinced that agroecological practices hold the key to creating a more sustainable and equitable future.

I warmly thank the Kufunda community for their welcoming hospitality and knowledge sharing. I hope to return one day to continue this beautiful adventure and share my own experiences."   Prince Atawé Akôyi OUSSOU LIO