BUKAVU, September 2, 2025 — In a modest yet attentive setting at the library of the Faculty of Agronomy at the Evangelical University in Africa, all eyes were fixed on a common goal: how to make agroecology a tangible reality for South Kivu. The initiative, led and facilitated by the Congo Basin Conservation Society (CBCS-Network), brought together researchers, farmers, journalists, and civil society actors on September 2 to lay the groundwork for a provincial strategy on the subject.
It’s an urgent need in a province where over 30% of households live with food insecurity and forests are disappearing at an alarming rate—between 1.5% and 2% each year.
“We’re practicing a politically-driven kind of agriculture,” said Professor Serge Ndjadi at the opening of the session. “There is still no clear framework for agroecology in our province. We struggle to produce, often at a loss, in the face of ecological shocks.”
The assessment shared by participants was blunt. Unstable yields, persistent rural poverty, growing pressure on natural resources, low inclusion of women and youth… The picture is grim, yet acknowledged with clarity. Five key challenges emerged as top priorities: food insecurity, ecosystem degradation, weak governance, social inequalities, and lack of appropriate agricultural innovation. All point to one conclusion: the current agricultural system is no longer sustainable.
In response, agroecology emerged as a credible pathway — not as a trend or ideology, but as an approach grounded in local realities: valuing farmers’ traditional knowledge, reconnecting research with the field, and involving all active forces — especially youth and women — in the transition.
“It’s not just about producing differently, but about rethinking the food system to make it fairer, more resilient, and more sustainable,” added Professor Ndjadi.
This initiative was led and facilitated by the Congo Basin Conservation Society (CBCS-Network), which works to promote sustainable farming systems and the conservation of ecosystems in the Congo Basin.
The objective of the gathering was clear: to launch a structured process at the provincial level. By the end of the discussions, several commitments had been made: to develop a roadmap, to strengthen ties between researchers and producers, and to highlight local innovations that often go unnoticed in agricultural policy. While still in its early stages, the initiative has raised hopes among those present in Bukavu of establishing a true political framework for agroecology in South Kivu.
With more than 70% of farms based on subsistence family agriculture and a rich ecological diversity, the province holds unique assets to become a regional model in agroecology. But this will require consistent coordination efforts and sustained support for rural communities. The Bukavu meeting didn’t solve everything. But it marked a starting point. For many participants, it was already a victory to see scientists, farmers, and policymakers thinking together about new ways to produce, to feed, and to protect.
By kilalopress
