Scaling Agroecology in West Africa with Community-Led Agroecology Committees: Lessons for Facilitators
Partnerships that leave communities strong, self-reliant, and resilient have been at the core of the work of Groundswell International and its partners in West Africa. A key part of this work is training field teams to facilitate community-led approaches and strategies to scale agroecology, combining learnings from different countries.
Earlier this year, member organizations from Burkina Faso and Ghana participated in a series of trainings and pilot programs aimed at helping communities organize themselves to promote agroecology through agroecology committees. These committees, first developed in Burkina Faso in collaboration with our local partner ANSD, significantly strengthen the leadership and skills of communities and help spread agroecological practices from farmer to farmer.
The goal of this training was to enhance our partners’ capacity to work strategically with the communities they support, establish structures and systems that facilitate the promotion and institutionalization of agroecology, while strengthening the network’s partnerships. The sessions combined presentations, discussions, and hands-on exercises, providing participants with a flexible roadmap to help communities establish their first agroecology committees.
Training communities to lead the agroecological transition
Staff from the participating organizations learned with Groundswell International’s team how to facilitate community-led processes. This included:
- Analyzing the local context with farmers to identify challenges, available resources, and needs
- Organizing inclusive discussions to decide whether to create a new committee or strengthen an existing one.
- Guiding the transparent selection of committee members.
- Supporting the development of operational roles, responsibilities, and plans that reflect the community’s priorities.
The training was delivered experientially, with an emphasis on sharing and harmonizing good practices and strategies from across the Groundswell International West Africa Network.
Urbanet, one of our newest network members, took pride in hosting the first leg of the training in the Northern Region of Ghana, Tamale. Other participating organizations included ANSD (Burkina Faso), CEAL (Ghana), and CIKOD (Ghana).
The training was led by Tsuamba Bourgou, Groundswell International’s West Africa Regional Programs Coordinator, supported by Advocacy and Action Research Coordinator for West Africa, Mr. Dioma Komonsira, and the West Africa Communications Coordinator, Ms. Pigru A. Freda. Together, they delivered participatory modules on facilitation, focus groups, note-taking, reporting, and community mobilization.
“It is essential to put farming communities in the driver’s seat, so that they can define their action plans, implement them, and create their own solutions,” said Tsuamba. “Then, they can build networks with other communities in their districts, and engage as citizens with local government for the right support and policies.”
The process of forming Agroecology Committees
Community structures to promote agroecology typically take the form of a 5–7-member committee, democratically selected to represent women, men, youth, and the physically challenged alike. A fundamental focus is ensuring a shared understanding of why these structures matter and the opportunities they create for communities.
Agroecology committees enhance the capacity of communities to plan, mobilize resources, implement, monitor, and document various agroecologically related innovations and action plans within their communities, with a focus on organization and mobilization. They also serve as the official voice of the community on agroecological issues, representing them in district assemblies, local agriculture offices, NGOs, CSOs, and even with the private sector. They carry the authority vested by the community and are accountable to it.
Participants learned how to guide a self-determined process for establishing these structures. This process involves helping communities decide whether to form a committee or appoint an individual, whether to adopt an existing structure or create a new one, how to select members, and how to define operational dynamics, with all decisions made inclusively by community members.
Piloting the process: Creating the first Agroecology Committees in Ghana
After the training, Urbanet mobilized its first community to pilot the process. Three facilitation teams went into the field to interact with community members and conduct an in-depth analysis of their food production systems, resources, and practices.
The teams assessed the need for community action, organization, and resource mobilization using specific tools: the Agriculture Trends Analysis, the Priority Problem Analysis, and Community Agroecology Action Planning and Budgeting. These exercises helped communities reflect on changes in agriculture over time, identify key challenges, and plan practical, locally relevant solutions.
Urbanet began with a general meeting to introduce the exercises, objectives, and different stages of the process. They then formed focus groups, comprising women, men, and youth, usually with 10-13 voluntary participants.
The tools were introduced one by one, starting with the Agriculture Trend Analysis, which provided the community with a deeper understanding of agricultural events and changes over the past 20 years. This exercise also allowed participants to reflect on how their practices evolved over time and how they arrived at their current state of food production systems.
Agriculture Trend Analysis
Participants examined key elements of agriculture, such as soil health, land, water, livestock, tools, and labor, describing their condition 20 years ago and comparing it to the present, including strategies adopted to cope with changes.
The analysis revealed significant agricultural shifts. Many farmers are gradually transitioning from subsistence to commercial farming in response to evolving demands and technological advancements, thereby altering the dynamics of labor and inputs. For example, families that once relied on manual labor for land clearing and sowing, using simple tools like cutlasses, hoes, and dibbers, now increasingly depend on tractors for tilling and seed broadcasting.
The trend analysis also highlighted the loss of soil biodiversity due to bush burning, tree cutting, overgrazing, and other practices, as well as dependence on tractor services and chemical inputs, which are costly and difficult for average farmers to access. Farmers primarily rely on these methods to increase yields in the face of soil infertility and unpredictable rainfall.
Priority Problem Analysis
Following the trend analysis, field teams conducted a Priority Problem Analysis to help communities identify the causes behind changes in food production practices. Participants prioritized problems and ranked them by severity, with corresponding solutions or mitigation strategies. Action points and responsible individuals or groups were identified for follow-up, to be overseen by the elected agroecology committee at subsequent meetings. During this process, focus groups documented their discussions, and representatives presented key findings to the wider community.
Participants use a board with sticky notes to collect thoughts and ideas
Community validation and committee creation
Focus groups presented their findings in a plenary session for feedback and consensus. Communities then defined the committee’s size, roles, tenure, and responsibilities before nominating and electing members through a transparent process. Each new committee began developing action plans and budgets to implement agroecological solutions.
In plenary sessions, the three focus groups shared their outcomes for validation and feedback from the entire community. The community then determined the committee’s structure and dynamics, including the number of members, qualifications, tenure, duties, and responsibilities. Once these decisions were agreed upon, members were nominated and elected through a transparent voting process, officially establishing the community agroecology committee.
The agroecological committees then developed comprehensive action plans on behalf of the community, using their trend analysis and priority problems as references. Urbanet’s field teams then matched these action plans with budgets outlining the resources needed to implement solutions effectively.
Urbanet has since then piloted this process in four other communities: Torope, Mahmudupe, Kunguri, and Jakpahi-Kukuo. These smallholder farming communities in northern Ghana face a range of challenges, including soil degradation, erratic rainfall, and declining soil fertility. Many farmers still rely on simple farming tools, such as cutlasses and hoes, and are only beginning to adopt agroecological practices, making the process timely. With these first committees, Urbanet and local organizations are paving the way for scaling agroecology in Ghana.
Why Agroecology Committees are key to promoting agroecology in Africa and strenghtening local democracy
Agroecology succeeds when communities are actively involved in shaping their food systems. Community-level committees enable communities to plan, prioritize challenges, mobilize resources, and implement locally relevant solutions. With committees in place, communities can lead the transformation of their food systems in ways that are inclusive, accountable, and sustainable, and have a real, unified voice in the decisions that affect their lives.
Community members shared:
- “Now I know how to keep water in my fields, even when the rains stop early.”
- “Through the agroecology committee, we have been able to reduce the cutting down of trees. We are also improving our seeding methods with simple roller planters.”
- “We’re going to build a demonstration site so others in our village can learn too.”
Key steps for facilitators to replicate and adapt the approach
Facilitators seeking to support community-led agroecology can follow a structured process based on the Groundswell West Africa experience:
- Prepare and mobilize communities – Begin with a general meeting to introduce objectives and steps.
- Form inclusive focus groups – Organize women, men, and youth into small voluntary groups.
- Conduct Agriculture Trend Analysis – Guide reflection on how practices have changed and why.
- Facilitate Priority Problem Analysis – Help identify and rank problems, link to solutions, and assign responsibilities.
- Plenary validation – Share findings with the whole community for validation and feedback.
- Establish Committees – Support transparent nomination and election, defining clear roles and responsibilities.
- Co-develop action plans – Translate findings into budgeted plans for agroecology promotion.
- Support ongoing mobilization – Ensure committees remain accountable to their communities and engaged with local authorities and stakeholders.
By following these steps, facilitators can help communities take ownership of agroecology initiatives, ensuring locally driven, inclusive, and sustainable solutions that put people and nature first.
Want to support the development of Agroecology Committees in West Africa and beyond? Consider donating. Your gift will help fund community-led initiatives geared at scaling agroecology in ways that put people and nature first.
Help spread Agroecology Committees in West Africa and beyond
About the author
Freda Aagyereyir Pigru
Freda Aagyereyir Pigru is Groundswell International’s West Africa Communications Coordinator. Prior to joining Groundswell International, Freda worked for six years with one of Groundswell’s partner organizations, Center for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development (CIKOD), based in Ghana as a community engagement officer implementing projects in the areas of agroecology, nutrition, women, and youth empowerment. She’s also worked with a community radio station in northwest Ghana as a reporter, host, producer, and station coordinator.