The Ecological Organic Agriculture Initiative (EOA-I) is a continental initiative that holds promise for increasing the productivity of Africa’s smallholder farms, with consequent positive impacts on food security. The propelling idea for this initiative emerged after the African Union Commission (AUC) supported a workshop in Kenya in 2011, which resulted in the development of the concept note, proposal and later formation of a Central Steering Committee (CSC) on organic agriculture.

Seeing value in this outcome, the AUC then broadened the membership of this committee by including in it representatives from the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in Africa, NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency, Farmers Organizations, Civil Society Organizations (CSO), Donors, Private Sector Agriculture based organizations, African Organic Network (AfroNet), Organic Certification bodies, Research Institutions, Academic Institutions, Ecological Organic Agriculture Industry Institutions or Networks and Development Partners. As a measure of its support, the African Union Commission proposes the Chair to the Continental EOA Steering Committee.

The AUC, with support from SDC, has also facilitated the development of the Rules of Procedures and Terms of Reference to guide the work of the continental steering committee (CSC). The CSC recommended a review of the African Organic Action Plan to reflect current realities and in addition for a Strategic Plan on Ecological Organic Agriculture to be developed.

The initiative has been implemented in Africa since 2012 first on a pilot basis in six countries, namely Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria and Zambia. The rollout has risen to eight (8) countries – four in Eastern Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania) and four in West Africa (Mali, Nigeria, Benin, and Senegal), with an overall goal of mainstreaming ecological agriculture into national agricultural production systems, plans and policies.

In order to support organic farmers and exporters, and to the support establishment of organic agriculture plat-forms among the Member States of the African Union to access markets, the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture (DREA) of the African Union Commission (AUC) has been organizing regional training workshops on organic standards and certification systems, organic production, marketing and extension support.

These tasks are in line with the African Union Heads of State and Government decision on organic farming.The trajectory of successes realized, lessons learned and challenges confronted are documented under various independent projects under this initiative.