Convergence Globale des Luttes pour la Terre et l’Eau — Afrique de l’Ouest (The Convergence)
Booming chants arc across a small town in rural Mali. Colorful marchers from Senegal and Burkina Faso join local organizers to pressure politicians about seed laws. Residents know: the Caravan is here. A convergence of land and water struggles in West Africa has built solidarity across the region to confront big agribusiness profiteers and neocolonial powers — and to build a better future.
In West Africa, food sovereignty movements have recently seen their work become isolated from one another, which can diminish their influence. Convergence Globale des Luttes pour la Terre et l’Eau – Afrique de l’Ouest, or The Global Convergence of Land and Water Struggles – West Africa, is working to defeat land and water grabs and fight against corporate power in the Sahel by drawing movements together.
Famously, the Convergence does this through caravans which travel throughout West Africa for multiple weeks at a time. These caravans visit and unite a broad range of stakeholders engaged in land, water, and seed struggles, ranging from farms to urban decision-makers. Participants meet with government officials and voice their needs as well as collaborate with others in other locales who are involved in the same struggles. Outside of the caravans, the Convergence also supports its 14 member countries by fighting for national-level autonomy in decision-making processes.
The only way to effectively challenge neocolonial and corporate dominance is to do so holistically. Land, water, and seeds can’t be separated, and many different sectors play a role in protecting them. The Convergence is creating the unity and agency that is necessary in the Sahel (the northern Sub-Saharan region of Africa) to make any progress in the right to land and water.