Agroecology in Practice: Chimanimani, Zimbabwe

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Last week I joined PELUM Zimbabwe (a national agroecology network) and partner organisations TSURO Trust and PORETO for a field visit in Chimanimani District in the eastern high and lowlands of Zimbabwe. This visit became  a reminder of why networked, community-rooted programmes matter in the fight for food sovereignty in Zimbabwe, and beyond. Agroecology and regenerative agriculture don’t advance in isolation, they advance through shared learning, unified advocacy, and programmes that centre farmers as the experts they are.

The visit was part of the ongoing joint learning between grassroots agroecological organisations, with government stakeholders. The process is critical in shaping the narrative, building capacity and strategies of how to scale up to a point of nourishing the nation and influencing policy. On the ground, results speak for themselves because farmers are at centre stage and this short story is one of many happening around the world.

FULL STORY COVERED BY 263Chat HERE

Africa at the Global Earth Repair Convergence

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The African Segment of the Global Earth Repair Convergence, running 8–10 May 2026 online via Zoom, under the theme Repairing Landscapes, Agriculture,  Livelihoods & Systems. It sits within the broader global event (7–11 May), which draws 500+ in-person participants in Washington State and thousands more online worldwide.

The three-day programme:

  • Day 1 – Repairing Landscapes: Ground-level practitioner voices on what’s actually working in African soils, watersheds, and ecosystems.
  • Day 2 – Repairing Food Systems & Communities: Agroecology, seeds, local markets, and community-led food systems restoring both land and livelihoods.
  • Day 3 – Repairing Systems: Finance, technology, funding frameworks, and the infrastructure needed to scale restoration across the continent.

Each day has two sessions — a morning slot (9:00–11:30 CAT) focused on keynotes and practitioner knowledge, and an evening slot (17:00–18:55 CAT) for panels, breakouts, and collective discussion.

Why it matters: Africa hosts some of the world’s most critical ecosystems and most innovative restoration practitioners, yet African voices have historically been marginalised in global environmental and agricultural conversations. The online format is a deliberate choice removing barriers of travel in these troubled times so that we can all bring our voices on board.

The core argument: the solutions to the planetary crisis are already being practised across Africa — this event exists to make that visible, connected, and fundable.

Get more information on this video;

You can also donate here to support the broader conference

📍 Register and explore the full convergence at:

www.globalearthrepairconvergence.com

Meeting links and Zoom details for the African Segment will be shared soon. Watch this space.

See you there; in person, online.

Genetically Modified Microorganisms: Risks and Regulatory Considerations for Human and Environmental Health

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Advances in affordable genetic engineering have accelerated the creation and large-scale environmental release of genetically modified microorganisms (GMMs). While beneficial applications exist, GMMs may present unique, long-term risks to human and environmental health. Unlike static chemicals, GMMs are biologically active, self-replicating entities capable of rapid mutation and global dispersal. Current regulatory frameworks place responsibility on each country to regulate GMMs, without a clear, coordinated international policy.

This review details critical risk scenarios, including horizontal gene transfer to native species and the possible disruption of vital human microbiomes (gut, oral, and infant), which could increase resistance to degradation, promote traits that expand a microbe’s range of hosts or ecological niches, and enhance the production of novel metabolites with unexpected biological activity. In soil, GMMs may support the emergence of “super bugs” or destabilize carbon sequestration cycles, potentially impacting climate resilience.

Engineered microbial enzymes in the food supply may also act as environmental drivers of autoimmunity. Given the limited understanding of microbial ecology, we propose a decision-based biosafety workflow emphasizing pre-release risk assessment and continuous post-release monitoring. We urge national and international regulators to adopt the precautionary principle to better protect human health and the environment from the potential negative outcomes of GMMs.

CONTINUE READING ON MDPI

We Will Flourish, Because War Cannot End Our Roots

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From Abya Yala to Kurdistan, 400 women from different continents, countries, languages, movements, and struggles — but with the same dreams and desires for justice and flourishing — participated, from February 11 to 15, 2026, in a Women’s Conference held in Bogotá, Colombia.

The event, organized by the Network of Women Weaving the Future, was emotional, profound, and grounded in sisterhood. It provided space to debate, inform, and exchange ideas and strategies to combat extractivist and land-destroying colonialism; to reclaim women’s body-territory in the face of attacks; to call upon the spirit of ancestral women — past, present, and future — to flourish through resistance; to reclaim enduring meaning in the face of the destruction of life; to explore common ground and challenges along the way; and to conclude by debating the search for collective solutions to weave the future.

The first day of work began on February 11 with a ceremony invoking the spirits of smoke, water, sun, wind, and fire through a collective offering — filled with grief and pain, but also joy. Participants brought symbolic objects, photos of their disappeared or murdered loved ones, sacred seeds, candles, flags, woven textiles, and essential oils, asking permission from the goddesses so that the conference could unfold harmoniously and productively.

In the various working groups, testimonies were shared about repression, assassinations, imprisonment, dispossession, wars, and imperialist attacks in different territories around the world by transnational corporations — along with complicit governments — seeking to steal communities’ common goods, memory, the circular transmission of knowledge, language, communal life, and life itself.

The second day featured 10 simultaneous workshops to exchange experiences and proposals more directly through the voices of the protagonists themselves. The results were shared in plenary on February 13.

On February 14 and 15, further sessions were held to share perspectives and formulate strategies. Discussions focused on struggles and knowledge as acts of resistance against threats and war; the need to build narratives of hope and culture to re-signify memory through collective internationalist history and struggle; and the importance of protecting life against death-driven projects that destroy the land, contaminate water, violate Indigenous communities through financial strangulation (such as in the cases of Venezuela and Cuba), and sow death with toxic substances that cause various illnesses.

Finally, participants emphasized the need to organize anger, for women to learn self-defense to prevent femicides and violence; the necessity of political organization and education; the recovery of art; continuing to plant ancestral foods with native seeds; recognizing nature and biodiversity as beings of the territory with rights; and resisting with the joy of life, guided by the moon that governs women and is our elder.

Boycott of the General Law on Adequate and Sustainable Food (LGAAS) due to Corporate Interests

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Government interests, linked to transnational food corporations such as Coca-Cola, have halted the publication and approval of the regulations for the LGAAS, which should have been published in October 2025. As a result, the Mexican government is in breach of its obligations and is preventing the exercise of human rights related to “the consumption of nutritious, sufficient, quality, safe, and culturally appropriate food; the strengthening of self-sufficiency, sovereignty, and food security; the foundations for social participation; and the creation of sustainable food environments and the promotion of breastfeeding” (Decree issuing the LGAAS, April 2024).

From civil society, various groups such as Vía Orgánica have participated in the drafting and implementation of this law. Despite the fact that its regulations were agreed upon with the previous Mexican administration, their publication has been blocked by members of the current government from the Ministries of Health and of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER). This has been done to prevent the enforcement of labeling for foods and beverages derived from genetically modified organisms; to inhibit the participation of civil society members free from corporate interests who have been involved in shaping the law for years, through the obstruction of the National Intersectoral System for Health, Food, Environment, and Competitiveness (SINSAMAC); and to favor purely commercial interests of transnational corporations that have created a global pandemic of obesity and malnutrition with their industrial products and beverages, in addition to generating massive plastic pollution.

We have sought out high-level authorities, resorted to public statements and media interviews, calling for the establishment of the regulations to prevent the Mexican government from remaining in breach of its obligations, while also offering—just as we always have—our full support and availability to move forward with the establishment of SINSAMAC. To date, however, we have received only “deaf ears” from the authorities responsible for its implementation.

We call on the Mexican government to fulfill its obligations, which will not only benefit the health of the Mexican population, but also generate virtuous cycles of production and availability of agroecological, local, and seasonal foods; preserve public health; and achieve savings of billions of pesos by avoiding the negative consequences of consuming foods and beverages containing agrochemicals and genetically modified organisms that contribute to weight gain and disease. This would also allow for the recovery of traditional diets based on the milpa, which for centuries kept people in Mexico healthy and well nourished.

We also call on Mexican and international society to remain vigilant and to support us in this struggle for food sovereignty based on peasant agroecological agriculture—stimulating the economy through fair prices for those who feed us and live in poverty, making food production methods and contents transparent so consumers can make informed choices about what they consume and what they do not, and above all, implementing sustainable agriculture, forestry, and livestock projects grounded in fair trade.

2025: 10 Years of Regeneration and Beyond

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This year, Regeneration International celebrated a decade of collective action — ten years of grassroots organizing, global solidarity, and soil-deep transformation. Our partner network has now grown to more than 700 organizations.

We also marked a major milestone with our 5th annual People’s Food Summit, a global online gathering of farmers, activists, scientists, and community leaders reimagining the future of food. This year’s summit reached an extraordinary 10 million people worldwide, amplifying the voices and solutions that are reshaping our food systems from the ground up.

In 2025, our movement reached deeper into landscapes and communities across the Global South.
We advanced landscape-level regenerative initiatives in Africa and Latin America; supported healthy soils and healthy food campaigns; expanded global trainings on the Billion Agave Project; strengthened community-led seed and food sovereignty efforts; and continued defending native corn and promoting truly healthy tortillas across Mexico. This year, our team was invited to speak on high-level panels around the world—ensuring regeneration remains central to the global policy conversation.

Across four continents, we delivered more than 50 workshops, videos, trainings, and talks, helping practitioners, farmers, and activists put regenerative principles into practice every day.

Next year, the Regeneration International Academy, in partnership with the South Seas University will hold another edition of the Certificate Course on Agroecological, Regenerative and Organic Agriculture (AROA), covering topics such as maximizing photosynthesis, soil health and nutrition, the use of functional biodiversity to manage pests and marketing. (please add link Regenerative Agriculture Course 2025 – Regeneration International

The case for regeneration has never been more urgent. Climate disruption is no longer a distant warning—it’s an everyday reality. Biodiversity is disappearing before our eyes. Floods and droughts are intensifying. Heatwaves and fires are reshaping ecosystems and livelihoods.
We are living at the tipping point.

Preventing the most catastrophic ecological and social breakdown in human history depends on what we do now—how we care for our soils, our ecosystems, and our communities. The path forward requires courage, collaboration, and a collective commitment to address the root causes of climate, agricultural, and social collapse.

To support our shared commitment to strong, nature-based farming systems, we introduced the Regeneration International Standard this year. Developed together with our community, it reflects and expands on the values established by our pioneers. We use it as a common reference point to help maintain integrity across our work and to collectively push back against greenwashing and appropriation.

Your leadership—as consumers, activists, organizers, farmers, and scientists—is powering a global movement to regenerate the Earth and reverse climate change.
The climb toward global regeneration is steep, but we are climbing it together.

We are deeply grateful for your partnership, your persistence, and your belief in the regenerative future we know is possible.
Here’s to growing the global regeneration movement even stronger in 2026.

With gratitude—and for regeneration, always,
The RI Team

 

 

PELUM Network @30: Celebrating Three Decades of Regional Agroecology & Farmer-Led Leadership

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This year marks a significant milestone for the agroecology movement across Southern and Eastern Africa: the PELUM Network celebrates 30 years of transformative, people-led work. Founded first in Zimbabwe in October 1995, PELUM (Participatory Ecological Land Use Management) emerged as a regional association connecting smallholder farmer organisations committed to agroecology, indigenous knowledge, and ecological restoration.

At Regeneration International, we have enjoyed PELUM networks contributions to our platforms such as The Peoples’ Food Summit. I had the honor of attending the PELUM 30th Anniversary celebrations during the PELUM AGM, 2025 convening, a moment that reaffirmed the strength of this movement and the solidarity that has carried it for three decades.

A Network Rooted in Country Chapters and Local Knowledge

PELUM’s strength lies in its vibrant network of country chapters across Southern and Eastern Africa. These chapters anchor the work in community realities, enabling learning, shared innovation, and a unified regional voice. Through them:

  • Knowledge flows from farmer to farmer, and across borders
  • Advocacy is grounded in lived experience
  • Regional solidarity grows from shared struggles and shared victories

This interconnected approach has been key to sustaining the movement for 30 years.

Solutions From the Door-step

PELUM has always championed a simple truth: local communities hold the solutions to regenerating food systems. Amid growing corporate influence over food systems, PELUM has defended smallholder farmers through:

  • Farmer-led research and documentation
  • Indigenous seed protection and exchange
  • Capacity development and training
  • Farmer-to-farmer learning platforms
  • Landscape restoration
  • Advocacy rooted in grassroots realities

These efforts show that transformation begins where people live and work.

The Power of Collective Action, in a narrowing funding landscape

As a founder of a grassroots regenerative organisation, I can attest to the power of collective action, and joint programs. The current funding landscape is very challenging for individual grassroots, making national networks effective platforms for co-funded actions.  The engagement with PELUM through iGugu Trust has affirmed this deeply.  Then grassroots can focus on contributions to knowledge and fundraising to take care of their teams.  We continue to need more regenerative funders who can provide small to medium open grants for the care of grassroots human teams. Within the network, our community-based efforts gain a stronger voice, supported by peer learning and regional solidarity. Through PELUM, partners continue to experience:

  • Amplified farmer experiences and knowledge
  • Protection of seed and food sovereignty
  • Cross-country solidarity through agroecological training
  • Stronger farmer-led advocacy influencing policymakers
  • Greater visibility of grassroots practices

Networks like PELUM help organisations connect local realities to regional agendas, ensuring that smallholder farmers remain central to shaping Africa’s food systems.

 

Congratulations, and Onward PELUM Network!

Thirty years on, PELUM’s model, community-led practice supported by strong country chapters, remains essential to the future of African food systems. From the doorstep to the landscape, PELUM continues to show how interconnected, organised action can transform our relationship with land, seed, and food while providing a platform for policy influence.

Here’s to the next three decades of agroecology, solidarity, and farmer-led change.

CSIPM Intervention – Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

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Regional Summit on South-South, North-South and Triangular Cooperation for the enjoyment of all human rights, including the right to development.

Chair, Excellencies, colleagues, and distinguished participants,
I am honoured to speak today on behalf of the Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples’ Mechanism (CSIPM) and Regeneration International, and to represent the millions of small-scale food producers across Africa, the women, farmers, pastoralists, fisherfolk, Indigenous Peoples, agricultural workers, landless communities, the urban food insecure, and youth whose knowledge and daily labour feed our continent. Thank you OHCHR for this opportunity to bring their realities, struggles, and visions for food sovereignty into this important dialogue on cooperation and the right to food. I would like to express gratitude for the opening remarks this morning and:

  1. CONTEXT – What African Food Producers Are Facing

As we are all aware and has been clearly stated this morning, in Africa, food systems face converging crises:

climate shocks destroying crops and seed systems;

debt pressures pushing families into hunger; land dispossession through conservation as recorded in Kenya, carbon markets, and agribusiness;

gender inequality that denies women (the main producers of food and seed 60 to 80 percent of Africa’s food) to secure land and agricultural finance;

and threats to seed sovereignty from frameworks like UPOV 1991 that undermine seed sovereignty and biodiversity.

This is the reality small-scale producers face as we discuss South-South, North-South and Triangular cooperation.

  1. What Is Going Wrong in current Cooperation Frameworks

Despite good intentions, many cooperation initiatives prioritise the wrong models, that leave grassroots behind.

We see a growing emphasis on high-tech, corporate-led agriculture, including GMOs, proprietary seed, systems, externally controlled digital platforms, and large-scale monocultures. Some Cooperation partnerships are  also advancing carbon credit schemes that require communities to alter land-use or surrender forests, grazing land, and water.

These models undermine farmer sovereignty, restrict pastoral mobility, weaken women’s land rights, and erode local markets, agroecology, and Indigenous knowledge, all while accelerating biodiversity loss.

Economic pressures worsen this. Debt repayment reduces public investment in agriculture, climate adaptation, and social protection. Hunger is rising across rural and urban areas.

Cooperation fails when it excludes the very people who feed the continent.

  1. PRACTICES – What African Civil Society and Social Movements (CSIPM) Are Already Doing as partners of Cooperation

Allow me to highlight work from Across the continent, social movements demonstrating effective, community-led cooperation. A few examples:

Regeneration International
Defends regenerative standards, globally amplifying  grassroots voices through learning exchanges and the annual People’s Food Summit.

AFSA – Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa
Defends Indigenous seed and land rights and advancing agroecology at all governance levels-Africa wide. Climate adaptation solutions, Soil health and territorial markets.

PELUM Network- Participatory Ecological Land-Use Management
Supports thousands of farmers in Eastern and Southern Africa with agroecology, from doorstep to rangelands,and engaging policymakers on emerging issues.

Seed & Knowledge Initiative (SKI)-Southern Africa
Strengthens farmer seed systems, protecting Indigenous varieties, and movement building.

Women in Agroecology Initiatives
Facilitating intergenerational mentorships in agroecological work.

Pastoralist Networks
Pastoralists in Kenya, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia are restoring rangelands through holistic grazing practices.

Community Resistance
Communities continue to resist harmful projects. In Kajiado, Kenya, the Maasai stopped a carbon offset land grab. Across Africa, fisherfolk defend traditional fishing rights, and Indigenous Peoples assert FPIC and land sovereignty.

These examples show that real cooperation is community-led, rights-based, ecological, and are already succeeding.

The Science Shows Glyphosate must be Banned

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The Scientific Evidence Justifies Banning Glyphosate

The primary scientific study pesticide regulators worldwide used to justify the approval of Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup and many other herbicides, has been retracted due to fraud.

This study, by Gary Williams, Robert Kroes, and Ian Munro, was used to cast doubt on the numerous published studies showing that Glyphosate caused cancers and many other diseases.

Researchers Alexander A. Kauro and Naomi Oreskes published a study in Environmental Science and Policy that identified multiple flaws in the Williams paper, including the fact that it was ghostwritten by Monsanto employees, which constitutes academic fraud. The Williams paper used unpublished studies from Monsanto and ignored a large number of scientific studies showing the multiple diseases Glyphosate causes, including cancer.

This paper was cited and used by regulators as the basis for approving the use of glyphosate-based pesticides and overriding the evidence presented in hundreds of studies showing the immense harm caused by them to human health and the environment.

This retraction comes a few months after the landmark study on glyphosate by Panzacchi et al. was published on June 10, 2025, examining total lifetime exposure to the so-called ‘safe’ levels to which most people are subjected [2].

The study found that the lowest dose of 0.5 mg/kg, which is four times lower than the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed ‘safe’ level, caused increased rates of both benign and malignant tumors in various parts of the body compared to the controls. These tumors included leukemia, skin, liver, thyroid, nervous system, ovary, mammary gland, adrenal glands, kidney, urinary bladder, bone, endocrine system, pancreas, uterus, and spleen. [2,3]

Now that William’s study has been retracted, the main reason for trusting the safety of glyphosate-based herbicides has disappeared, leaving no reason to avoid banning these highly toxic poisons that pollute nearly every part of the environment and the bodies of most living creatures, especially us and our children

There are an enormous number of published scientific studies showing that glyphosate-based pesticides are responsible for multiple serious health problems for people, animals, and the wider environment.

The widespread adoption of GMO crops in the U.S. has resulted in a massive increase in the application of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, as the primary method of weed control. [4]

The Panzacchi study confirms evidence from earlier research, including that by the IARC and Seralini et al., among many others[5,6]. It also validates the accuracy of “Genetically engineered crops, glyphosate and the deterioration of health in the United States of America,” where Dr. Nancy Swanson, our co-authors, and I demonstrated how glyphosate and GMOs are linked to over 20 chronic diseases in the U.S [4].

The First Credible Peer-reviewed Lifetime Study of GMOs and Roundup

Until Panzacchi et al. was published, there was only one credible, independent, non-industry funded, peer-reviewed lifetime feeding study of GMOs and Roundup. It found that mammary and other tumors, liver and kidney damage result from regular exposure to minute amounts of Roundup and/or a diet containing GMO corn, similar to the typical exposures people get from food. [6]

The image above shows a rat with large mammary tumors caused by consuming glyphosate at the usual levels found in food. The tumors on the right-hand side, starting from the top, are caused by eating GMO corn, GMO corn treated with Roundup, or just Roundup. (Seralini et al.)  

All female rats in the study that were fed GMOs and/or Roundup (Treated Group) developed mammary tumors and died earlier than the rats fed non-GMO food without Roundup (Control Group), except for one rat that died early from an ovarian tumor. This finding aligns with Thongprakaisang et al., showing that glyphosate promotes the growth of human breast cancer cells via estrogen receptors. [7]

 Treated males presented four times the number of tumors that were large enough to be felt by hand than the controls, and these occurred up to six hundred days earlier.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has assigned glyphosate a Group 2A rating for Cancer, the second-highest classification. [5]

This means it causes cancer in animals and has some evidence of causing cancer in humans, most notably non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

A study by Flower et al. examined the levels of cancer in children whose parents used glyphosate for weed control. They found that these children had increased levels of all childhood cancers, including all lymphomas, such as non-Hodgkin lymphoma.[8]

A case-controlled study by Swedish scientists Lennart Hardell and Mikael Eriksson also linked non-Hodgkin lymphoma to exposure to various pesticides and herbicides, including glyphosate. [9] The link between glyphosate and non-Hodgkin lymphoma has resulted in significant court cases, most of which Bayer-Monsanto has lost and awarded millions of dollars to the victims.

Genetically engineered crops, glyphosate, and the deterioration of health in the United States of America

Dr. Nancy Swanson and I, along with our co-authors Jon Abrahamson and Bradley Wallet, published a peer-reviewed paper, “Genetically engineered crops, glyphosate, and the deterioration of health in the United States of America,” showing how glyphosate and GMOs are linked to over 20 diseases in the U.S. The study searched US government databases for genetically engineered crop data, glyphosate application data, and disease epidemiological data. This was correlated with numerous diseases linked to the increased use of glyphosate and GMOs. A standard accepted statistical analysis showed that the odds of glyphosate and GMOs not being the cause of these diseases was 10,000 to 1. On top of these, numerous studies are confirming the link between GMOs and glyphosate with these diseases. [4]

We compiled this data into graphs demonstrating the rise in diseases, glyphosate, and GMOs. We also included green trend lines to illustrate that these increases are linked to the growing use of genetically engineered (GE) corn and soy, along with glyphosate.

Correlations with Cancer

We found strong correlations for cancers of the liver, kidney, thyroid, and pancreas, as well as deaths from acute myeloid leukemia. These correlations have now been confirmed by Panzacchi et al., who demonstrated that small levels of glyphosate and glyphosate herbicides cause these issues in rats.

Thyroid cancer, in particular, appears to be linked to the introduction of GE crops and the use of glyphosate. It seems to affect women more, while men are more susceptible to liver and kidney cancers.

Conclusion

Research shows glyphosate-based herbicides cause multiple serious chronic diseases. Over 50 years of regulation since glyphosate’s introduction in 1974 clearly highlight regulatory failure. Authorities should fulfill their duty to protect the public by banning these substances.

References             

  1. Alexander A. Kaurov and Naomi Oreskes, The afterlife of a ghost-written paper: How corporate authorship shaped two decades of glyphosate safety discourse, Environmental Science and Policy 171 (2025) 104160
  2. Panzacchi, S., Tibaldi, E., De Angelis, L. et al. Carcinogenic effects of long-term exposure from prenatal life to glyphosate and glyphosate-based herbicides in Sprague–Dawley rats. Environ Health 24, 36 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-025-01187-2
  3. EPA R.E.D. FACTS Glyphosate, https://www3.epa.gov/pesticides/chem_search/reg_actions/reregistration/fs_PC-417300_1-Sep-93.pdf
  4. Nancy L. Swanson, Andre Leu, Jon Abrahamson, and Bradley Wallet, Genetically engineered crops, glyphosate and the deterioration of health in the United States of America, Journal of Organic Systems, 9(2), 2014
  5. “Glyphosate,” IARC Monographs–112, http://monographs.iarc.fr/ENG/Monographs/\vol112/mono112-02.pdf.
  6. Gilles-Éric Séralini et al., “Long-Term Toxicity of a Roundup Herbicide and a Roundup-Tolerant Genetically Modified Maize, Environmental Sciences Europe, republished study (2014): 14.
  7. Thongprakaisang, S., Thiantanawat, A., Rangkadilok, N., Suriyo, T. and Satayavivad, J., 2013, Glyphosate induces human breast cancer cells growth via estrogen receptors, Food and Chemical Toxicology, 59: 129-136.
  8. K. B. Flower, J. A. Hoppin, C. F. Lynch, A. Blair, C. Knott, D. L. Shore, et al., “Cancer Risk and Parental Pesticide Application in Children of Agricultural Health Study Participants,” Environmental Health Perspectives 112, no. 5 (2004): 631–35.
  9. Lennart Hardell and Mikael Eriksson, “A Case-Control Study of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and Exposure to Pesticides,” Cancer 85, no. 6 (March 15, 1999): 1353–60.

Bringing Agroecology and Regenerative Agriculture to Global Policy

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In October 2025, I had the privilege of representing Southern African civil society and Regeneration International (RI) at the 53rd Session of the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS) in Rome. It was also my first time contributing directly to global policy discussions as part of the Coordination Committee of the Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples’ Mechanism (CSIPM), where I serve as Focal Point for Southern Africa.

Being in that space reminded me just how important it is for grassroots voices, especially farmers (fisher, crops), pastoralists, and women, to be heard in global decision-making. We often speak about food systems in big terms, but for me, the heart of it is simple: people and land. Experiencing how CSIPM brings perspectives from communities practicing Agroecology and regenerative agriculture felt like a breath of real life into the room.

RI’s Presence in the Policy Space

 The CFS is one of the few global platforms where civil society and social movements have a recognized seat in policy discussions. That in itself is powerful, it means our movements can help shape the direction of food and agriculture policy, not just respond to it.

At this year’s session, RI’s voice contributed to conversations on resilient food systems, land rights, gender, and seeds. I was especially grateful to speak at the SWISSAID and IFAD side event on Neglected and Underutilized Species (NUS), sharing how local seed custodians in Africa are wading the challenging waters of farming systems.

Building Connections

I’m also excited to now be part of two global working groups:

  1. CFS Working Group on Resilient Food Systems, and
  2. CSIPM Women and Gender Policy Dialogue Working Group.

These spaces will help us connect real community experiences, the kind we see across the Southern African region and  RI networks, with the policy conversations that can make a difference at a global level.

Being at CFS53 also gave me a deep sense of connection with others doing similar work around the world. CSIPM gives me hope, it shows that civil society, despite facing many global challenges, can still come together as a collective force. Knowing that there are comrades in many parts of the world working through different agricultural approaches but toward the same goal, fair, resilient, and caring food systems, is incredibly grounding.

Linking the People’s Food Summit and Global Action

Our presence in Rome also built on the energy of the People’s Food Summit (our annual online event that airs on October 16th), which continues to highlight stories and leadership from the ground. The Summit gave visibility to the same farmers and women whose work we later referenced in Rome. That continuity, from storytelling to policy (home to Rome), is what makes our movement strong.

Looking Forward

CFS53 may not be a perfect platform, but a great start and opportunity to dialogue from lived experience, about land, seeds, and community sovereignty, it shifts the tone of global conversations.  As the year folds, we strategically position ourselves on how to bring the policy resolves from Rome to home.

You can watch the CFS53 closing tribute that I contributed in the plenary session here: FAO Webcast – Day 5 Afternoon Session (minute 38:58)

CSM Thank You Message to Ambassador Nosipho Jezile