A 24-point declaration adopted in Yaoundé, Cameroon, sets quantified financing and policy objectives for agroecology, biodiversity and food systems across the Congo Basin. The Yaoundé Declaration 2026 emerged from the Second Congo Basin Convening, held over three days with 187 delegates from 20 countries. Participants included governments, farmers’ and pastoralists’ organizations, Indigenous Peoples, women and youth movements, researchers, parliamentarians, regional institutions and funding partners.

Among its proposals, the Declaration calls for governments and the African Union Commission to explicitly include agroecology in agricultural investment plans and allocate at least 30 percent of relevant budgets to it. It also advocates legal protection for farmer-managed seed systems and community and customary land rights, including free, prior and informed consent for conservation and extractive projects. Financing institutions are urged to enable at least 20 percent of climate and biodiversity finance to reach farmer organizations, women, youth, Indigenous Peoples and local communities directly.

Implementation is linked to a Congo Basin Regional Action Roadmap and national platforms in the six Congo Basin countries. Signatories also set out commitments covering seed banks, farmer-to-farmer learning, public reporting, policy coordination and research. The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) was mandated to mobilize resources for the Congo Basin Biodiversity, Climate and Agroecology Initiative and host its regional coordination unit. Progress is intended to be reported annually and reviewed at the next Congo Basin Convening.