Marrakech, Morocco, 1–5 December 2025
FANRPAN brought an African policy perspective to the XIX World Water Congress held in Marrakech, Morocco, from 1–5 December 2025, under the theme “Water in a Changing World: Innovation and Adaptation.” Co-organised by the International Water Resources Association (IWRA) and Morocco’s Ministry of Equipment and Water, and convened under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, the Congress brought together over 1,500 participants from the global water community, including UN-Water leadership, international financial institutions and over 30 ministerial delegations, alongside scientists, civil society, basin organisations and private sector representatives.
Within this high-level setting, FANRPAN participated in the thematic side event on “Circular Food Systems and Agroecology in the Global South and North,” which attracted a diverse audience of water and agriculture policymakers, regional organisations, research institutions, development partners and youth networks. In this session, Mr Suwilanji Sinyangwe representing FANRPAN, delivered a presentation on “Policy Implications for Africa: Aligning Agroecology & Circular Food Systems with CAADP, Agenda 2063 and Climate Goals,” drawing on evidence from the Circular Food Systems in Africa Project and FANRPAN’s policy tracking in Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. He underscored that with roughly 95 per cent of cropland in Sub-Saharan Africa still rainfed and climate projections pointing to yield losses of 20 to 40 per cent for staple crops at two degrees of warming, agroecology and circular food systems must be recognised as core implementation pathways for Africa’s agricultural, climate and water commitments rather than as isolated pilots.
The presentation highlighted practical examples from Eastern, Western, and Southern Africa where diversified, low-external-input systems and circular use of biomass, water and nutrients are already delivering higher and more stable yields, better soil and water management, and new livelihood opportunities for youth and women. Cases included push–pull and conservation agriculture systems in East Africa, evergreen agriculture and Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration in the Sahel, and emerging circular food-economy initiatives in countries such as Ghana, Malawi, Senegal, Nigeria, and South Africa. These experiences were linked to existing frameworks such as CAADP and the Malabo Declaration, Agenda 2063, Regional Economic Community strategies and the African Union’s Climate Change and Resilient Development Strategy, as well as to the Marrakech Declaration’s call to strengthen the science–policy–practice interface for water security.
In closing, FANRPAN’s intervention stressed the need to embed agroecology and circular food systems explicitly in National and Regional Agricultural Investment Plans, Nationally Determined Contributions and National Adaptation Plans, and to align climate and development finance so that these approaches are treated as high-impact options for resilience, food security and inclusive rural transformation. By situating its side-event contribution within a global forum that convened leading water experts, ministers, UN agencies and practitioners from around the world, FANRPAN reinforced the message that Africa’s transition to water-secure, climate-resilient food systems will depend on implementing existing continental and regional commitments through integrated, agroecological, and circular approaches on the ground.
