The EAC Agroecology Bill has been formally presented to the East African Legislative Assembly’s Committee on Agriculture, Tourism and Natural Resources. It is the first proposed law of its kind on the continent.
Four years in a committee room
The Bill did not begin in Arusha. It began with five national consultations, in which farmer organisations, seed savers and agricultural ministries were asked what a law would need to say to be worth having. The drafting came after that, not before.
What the Bill would do
Three things, principally. It protects farmer managed seed systems, so that saving and exchanging seed remains lawful rather than becoming a technical infringement. It sets limits on agrochemicals that have been withdrawn in the countries that manufacture them. And it obliges member states to direct a share of agricultural extension budgets toward regenerative practice.
What the committee said
The Committee pledged its support and asked for supplementary material on implementation costs and on how domestication would work in states with existing seed legislation. That is a reasonable ask and we are preparing it.
What is still to come
A committee report, a plenary debate, a vote, and then assent by the Heads of State. Any of those stages can take a year. We publish where the file stands so nobody has to guess.