Pan-African Convening on the Future of Biodigital Technologies in Food and Agriculture

By Maya Marshak and Kirk Helliker

Members of the SA AEKN Technology Working Group were invited to attend the first-ever Pan-African Convening on the Future of Biodigital Technologies in Food and Agriculture held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from October 2-4, 2025. The Convening was co-organised by the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), and the African Technology Assessment Platform (AfriTAP). The event brought together over 130 participants from 33 African countries, representing farmers, fisherfolk, pastoralists, Indigenous groups, faith-based communities, scientists, policy makers, lawyers, consumers, civil society organisations, and social movements.

The three-day programme focused on more fully comprehending the nature and impact of biodigital technologies on farming and food systems in Africa. This involved deepening the collective understanding of the biodigital tech landscape in food and agriculture, including the key role players, stakeholders, initiatives, and areas of focus. A key concern raised was the replication of colonial patterns of surveillance and extraction through digital systems and technologies, and hence the necessity to maintain Africa-centred sovereignty in the face of an increasingly digitalised world.

Plenary discussions explored topics such as the risks of surveillance via biometric-based subsidy programmes, as well as the risks of biopiracy in the face of the digitisation and patenting of indigenous seeds, animal genetics, soils, and other biological materials. Other discussions considered the resources drawn upon in developing and using biotechnologies, such as the extraction of critical minerals via socially and ecologically unjust mining practices, and the data centres consuming vast quantities of energy and water. The incongruence between such intense resource use and agroecology was brought to the fore. In this context, an important and recurring debate was around the grassroots use of technology in an agroecological context and when, if, and how it is appropriate to use biodigital technologies. 

The final day focused on exploring solutions and pathways forward for collective action. The Pan-African Declaration on the Future of Biodigital Technologies in Africa was issued. As stated in the Declaration: “[T]he convergence of biology and digital technologies—artificial intelligence (AI), synthetic biology, robotics, sensors, data platforms, genomics, lab-grown proteins, 3D printed foods, and geoengineering—represents a new conjunction of technological, geopolitical, and epistemic power and our relationship with the living world”. 

Many of the concerns raised at the Convening resonate with the thoughts of AEKN’s Agroecology and Technology Working Group. In order to build and consolidate our partnerships, it is vital that AEKN continues to take part in continental endeavours around biodigital technologies. In doing so, it becomes critical to ensure that we engage collectively to ensure that biodigital technologies align with the principles of agroecological farming and food systems.