African communities fight for food independence at cop30 climate summit

As world leaders gather at the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, African delegates are bringing urgent concerns about how climate change is devastating the continent’s agricultural systems. With the majority of Africa’s population depending on farming for their livelihoods, increasingly unpredictable weather patterns, extreme storms, and rising temperatures are threatening food security across the region.

The international NGO GRAIN is attending the summit to advocate for food sovereignty—the right of communities to control their own food systems rather than depend on industrial agriculture. Ange-David Baïmey, GRAIN’s Africa program coordinator, explained in an interview with Mongabay that his organization is less focused on formal negotiations and more interested in connecting with grassroots movements to share climate adaptation strategies and push for genuine climate justice.

For GRAIN, climate justice means ensuring that the communities most affected by climate change—often small-scale farmers and rural populations—have the power to develop their own solutions. This approach stands in contrast to industrial agricultural models that promote commercial seeds, synthetic fertilizers, and pesticides, which GRAIN argues make farming communities more vulnerable to climate impacts while enriching corporations.

The summit provides a crucial platform for organizations like GRAIN to challenge dominant narratives about climate solutions and highlight community-based approaches to adaptation. As climate change continues to disproportionately impact developing nations, particularly in Africa, the fight for food sovereignty has become inseparable from the broader struggle for climate justice and community self-determination.