In March 2023, civil society organisations and farmers met with the
Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
to share views on agroecology and to promote a call from 58 organisations
for a national agroecology strategy.

In support of the process, the ACB conducted a detailed review of 22 key policies across agriculture, environment and other sectors to identify strengths and weaknesses of the existing suite of policies in South Africa, in the context of ongoing biodiversity loss, the climate crisis and an increasingly unsustainable agri-food system.

The policy assessment, based on the 13 principles of agroecology developed in 2019 by the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) High Level Panel of Experts on Food and Nutrition (HLPE), indicates that there are many areas of overlap in the existing suite of policy documents that can support an agroecological approach. However there is a need to consolidate these elements into an overarching strategy, which can provide an effective integrating framework for policy and action for a just transition in agri-food systems, biodiversity and climate change response.

The assessment finds that the principles of participation, land and natural resource governance, economic diversification, input reduction and biodiversity are strongly reflected across the reviewed suite of national policies and plans. Also fairly well represented are the principles of recycling, co-creation of knowledge, and social values (but not including social diets). Less well represented principles are soil health, synergy, fairness and connectivity. Weak points are social diets (nutrition) and animal health.