There were 400 participants attending the conference, held in Nairobi from 18 to 21 June 2019 organized by the World Food Preservation Center, IFOAM – Organics International and Biovision African Trust, among other partners. The objective was to discuss how agroecology including organic agriculture could be a pathway to transform East Africa’s food systems.

One of the main concerns was the urgent need to reduce the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture. Another concern was how to promote ecological organic trade. The conference was based on evidence of successful practitioners in the field and in the trade around the world. East African systems are very knowledge intensive and take advantage of both traditional knowledge and modern science through collaboration between farmers and researchers.

The Scaling up Agroecology Initiative led by FAO and UN Partners was presented and the synergies with other regional initiatives was discussed, such as the Ecological Organic Agriculture Initiative (EOA), led by PELUM. EOA is being implemented since 2012 as a response to the African Heads of State Decision on organic farming made in the conference of Ministers of Agriculture in 2010. The studies on the characterization of agroecological systems that FAO is developing with partners in Senegal and Kenya were also presented in the conference, as a methodology which could support the generation of evidence on how agroecological experiences could contribute to overcome climate change challenges in the region.