By Isaiah Esipisu and Anthony Muchoki
The East African Legislative Assembly is advancing a groundbreaking regional legal framework for agroecology, a shift that could fundamentally reshape how food is produced across eight East African nations. As climate change intensifies and corporate control of food systems deepens, this legislative initiative represents a critical intervention to protect smallholder farmers, preserve indigenous seeds, and secure food sovereignty for over 300 million people. In this interview, Hon. Gideon Gatpan, EALA member from South Sudan and Chair of the Committee on Agriculture, Tourism and Natural Resources, reveals the strategic process behind this transformative policy, from parliamentary resolution to binding regional law.
Q. What role does the East African Legislative Assembly play in shaping policies for the East African Community (EAC) member states?
EALA as a parliament has three cardinal functions: One is to legislate or to make laws, the second is to represent, and finally to oversight. Our laws are superseding the national laws of equal measure in member countries.
For example, when we enact a law and it is assented to by all the heads of states, we expect that law to be domesticated across the region. That law therefore comes into force and takes precedence over any other existing national law. That is how we shape the legal practice in terms of implementation of the laws, oversight and enforcement.
In case any country has any query or concern regarding the newly enacted law at the East African community level, they are given 45 to 90 days to submit their queries or objections or reservations. So the country with reservations will write down what their issues are and submit to the assembly. The assembly will then call for another sitting to see what the reservations of the partner state are. That will be taken through another legal process, where the bill is introduced again in the parliament through a specialized committee that is in charge of that particular bill.
So the committee will then process the bill and will bring it back to the parliament for further discussion and second and third reading, followed by a debate before it is taken to the heads of states to sign it into law.
Q. How do EALA agroecology resolutions translate into binding laws, budgets and national action across East African member states?
First before I answer that, let me give a little context of how that resolution came about. In October 2024, EALA had a capacity building event in Kampala, Uganda and that capacity building was sponsored by an organization called Center for Food and Adequate Living Rights (CEFROHT) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). So they took the members of EALA Committee on Agriculture Tourism and natural resources through training.
From there, we had a clear picture of what agroecology was all about. It was based on that report that we recommended that we should have a parliamentary resolution to enable create a conversation in the region about agroecology.
On 11th day of July 2025, my predecessor tabled the report, but as a committee, we also tabled a motion in the assembly. It was debated and unanimously passed by the parliament.
Now back to your question, when a resolution of the parliament is passed, it is not binding, it does not have legal measures, and it does not have legal effect. But with that resolution, it always triggers a bigger conversations and actions in the region. We are therefore engaging with the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), CEFROHT, and FAO among many other partners to generate sufficient information to be able to generate regional law governing agroecology.
In November 2025, all members of EALA were taken to agroecology learning farm in Mukono, Uganda under the leadership of AFSA. Members were educated on the need to have a law that can protect agroecological farmers, and strengthen the protection of food sovereignty in the region.
During that engagement, the committee resolved that we need to develop a law for agroecology, and that became the second step adding to the resolution of parliament.
But now, we are at another stage where FAO has sponsored a study that is being conducted by a professor at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) to look at all agriculture policies in the region to identify existing gaps in terms of agroecology. The study findings will be presented to the EALA committee on agriculture, tourism and natural resources. We hope it can be done before March 2026.
Once that report has been presented, the committee will use the data including information that has been gathered through interaction with AFSA and other partners to build a stronger case that establish a gap on why we need an agroecology law.
Once the committee receives the report, it will, with the help of experts from our partners draft a private member bill. The bill will be brought to parliament for the assembly to grant us the leave as a committee on agriculture tourism and natural resources to develop a Bill on agroecology. After that, we will go to the legal legislative draft person also known as the principal legislative draft person for the actual drafting of the Bill in the East African Community format.
Once it is written, the committee will discuss it, and if we are all comfortable with the content and provisions of the bill, the committee will now take it for the first reading in the house. After that, it will be taken for public hearing.
At that point, the bill will have become the property of the East African Community. So now the community has obligation to finance it, as well as engage the partners to support activities such as the public hearing across the whole region.
Once the public and experts are happy, the final bill will be taken for the second reading, and this must be informed by the views of the general public, after which we will now invite technocrats from the secretariat, especially the department in charge of agriculture, the principal legislative draft person and the research officer among other leaders in the secretariat to harmonize the process.
When that is done, we will call for the council of ministers to meet our committee and the ministers in charge of the East African Community Affairs from member states. So they will interact with the committee. After that, countries will come with either reservation or they approve it and present it for signing by heads of states after the third and final reading in the house.
Q. From where you sit as the chair of the committee on agriculture, do you see the political goodwill in all the member states of the East African Community to have this law on agroecology developed and enacted?
Yes. So far, the whole assembly has a general consensus to develop the bill for agroecology policy. And this assembly represents all the eight member states because in the next sitting, Somalia will have members of parliament here.
Q. Where will the funding come from to implement agroecology among small holder farmers across the region?
The Bill will have a requirement for the partner states to allocate sufficient funding to support the small holder farmers. It will also have some level of sanctions in term of non-compliance. There must be a process of oversight, and that oversight always has got some sanctions if you don’t do what is expected of the East African Community.
This is because for us in the committee, we have now fully understood the importance of embracing agroecology. For example, the conventional seed companies are colonizing Africa for the second time. So if we can be colonized through our seeds, then it means we are done.
If the big companies producing seeds denied African countries seeds, then we are done. So why do we have to wait for that disaster? The thinking behind the agroecology bill is that we have to protect our seeds, and protect our smallholder farmers.
Q. Will EALA stand up to protect corporate control of East Africa’s food systems given the existence of organizations that front commercial agriculture?
The most important thing to understand is that we are not fighting conventional agriculture. Those big companies have got muscles and they are dominating our national governments in terms of signing big deals and everything is about food sufficiency and food security not food safety and not food sovereignty.
By the end of the day, people will have to realize the difference when we have already protected the small holder farmers and our original African seeds. The choices will be very clear. Do you want to eat GMO and risk your health or you want to eat the safe food and live longer? You will also see the prices of the food produced ecologically become expensive due to high demand, thereby generating decent income for our smallholders.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
This interview captures a pivotal moment in East African agricultural policy. The proposed agroecology law represents more than environmental regulation—it is an assertion of food sovereignty at a time when corporate consolidation of seed systems and agricultural inputs threatens the autonomy of millions of smallholder farmers across the region.
Key timeline to watch: The JKUAT policy gap analysis is expected before March 2026, which will trigger the drafting of the private member bill. From there, the legislative process—including regional public hearings and ministerial consultations—could take 12-18 months before reaching heads of state for final assent.
The stakes are considerable. If enacted, this would be East Africa’s first binding regional framework explicitly protecting agroecological practices, indigenous seed systems, and smallholder farming methods. It would also establish enforceable funding requirements and compliance mechanisms—rare for regional agricultural policy.
However, significant challenges remain. The bill must navigate the political economy of agricultural development in a region where multiple governments have signed substantial agreements with multinational seed and agrochemical companies. The framing of agroecology as complementary to, rather than in opposition to, conventional agriculture will be critical to securing broad political support.
Readers interested in following this process should monitor EALA committee proceedings, particularly public hearing announcements expected in late 2026. Civil society organizations including AFSA, CEFROHT, and farmer networks across the region will play crucial roles in shaping the bill’s provisions and ensuring meaningful public participation.
For updates on the legislative progress and opportunities for public input, visit the East African Legislative Assembly website at www.eala.org or follow regional agricultural policy developments through the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa.
The Editors