Association Guinéenne pour la Sécurité et la Souveraineté Alimentaires (Guinean Association for Security and Food Sovereignty, AGUISSA)
Guinea’s small-scale farmers are facing intense land grabs and agribusiness domination of their food system. But AGUISSA is organizing peasants to resist those who put profit above land and lives.
AGUISSA is fighting for food sovereignty in Guinea at a time when aggressive land grabs and misguided agriculture policies are causing harm to the health of the land and people’s lives. Guinea is often overlooked by other social movements, and AGUISSA works with NSS/WAS at the regional level on grassroots feminisms and environmental justice to close those gaps. They recognize that food sovereignty is not possible without women and gender nonconforming people, and they actively prioritize these communities in their work.
AGUISSA supports small-scale food providers and peasant groups in growing, harvesting, production, processing, and marketing. Members use agroecological principles to advocate against land and water grabs and chemical inputs. AGUISSA is currently prioritizing communications work, including bringing in traditional communicators such as traditional West African storytellers (known as griots) into their movement spaces. On the national level, AGUISSA meets with state-level and international institutions to push for agroecological principles in Guinea’s agricultural policies.
AGUISSA is making strides in putting seeds and other resources back into the hands of peasants — especially women and gender nonconforming people — and shifting public opinion in favor of agroecology. These are both critical in resisting forces putting profit above land and people’s lives and building a better future in Guinea.
