Just Food System Transitions

The document advocates for a 'deep' just transition in African food systems that prioritizes human rights, structural equity, and agroecology over industrialization. It highlights the vulnerabilities of African food systems to climate change and the risks of 'modernization' policies that favor agribusiness. Using South Africa's highly unequal, industrial food system as a cautionary example, the brief recommends that philanthropies shift toward long-term, flexible funding for multi-actor coalitions, grassroots initiatives, and participatory research to foster systemic change.

• A 'deep' just transition for food systems must move beyond simple carbon neutrality to prioritize human rights, the dismantling of poor working conditions, and the correction of historical structural inequities.
• African food systems are highly vulnerable to climate change, with projections suggesting that at least 30 million more people will be at risk of hunger by 2030 due to these impacts.
• Current 'modernization' policies in Africa often favor corporate agribusiness and hybrid seed systems, which can undermine food sovereignty, erode agrobiodiversity, and increase farmer dependence on private sector inputs.
• South Africa serves as a cautionary example for the rest of Africa because its industrial food system, built on apartheid-era land dispossession and cheap labour, maintains extreme inequality despite national food security.
• Philanthropic funding should shift from rigid, output-based metrics toward supporting the 'process' of movement building, including salaries for coalition coordinators and long-term funding for relationship building.
• Effective food system advocacy requires a 'research–advocacy–policy nexus' that links grassroots agency and community-led research with high-level policy engagement.

APA

Swanby, H., Bennie, A., Dasoo, M., & Kroll, F. (2025). Just Food System Transitions. African Climate Foundation. https://africanclimatefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/801023_L-Just-transitions-WEB-1.pdf

Chicago

Swanby, Haidee, Andrew Bennie, Malik Dasoo, and Florian Kroll. Just Food System Transitions. African Climate Foundation, 2025. https://africanclimatefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/801023_L-Just-transitions-WEB-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Swanby |first1=Haidee |last2=Bennie |first2=Andrew |last3=Dasoo |first3=Malik |last4=Kroll |first4=Florian |title=Just Food System Transitions |publisher=African Climate Foundation |date=2025 |url=https://africanclimatefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/801023_L-Just-transitions-WEB-1.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{swanby2025just, author = {Swanby, Haidee and Bennie, Andrew and Dasoo, Malik and Kroll, Florian}, title = {{Just Food System Transitions}}, institution = {African Climate Foundation}, year = {2025}, url = {https://africanclimatefoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/801023_L-Just-transitions-WEB-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }