Senegal/Tambacounda: Launch of a West African Caravan to Fight for Land, Water, and Peasant Seeds

On Friday, the city of Tambacounda (east) hosted the launch ceremony for the fifth edition of the Global Convergence of Struggles for Land, the Global Convergence of Struggles for Land, Water, and Peasant Seeds in West Africa (CGLTE-AO), in the run-up to the World Social Forum, scheduled for August 4–8, 2026, in Cotonou, Benin.

This launch ceremony was organized in Tambacounda by the Senegalese National Platform of the CGLTE-AO, with support from the Initiative for an Agroecological Transition in Senegal (DyTAES) and Enda Pronat.

It brought together participants from Mauritania, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, and Senegal.

Farmers’ organizations, social movements, local governments, and community leaders from Senegal, as well as delegations from neighboring countries committed to defending the commons and promoting citizen-led alternatives, are also taking part in this caravan.

“The goal is to support the communities on whose behalf we have been waging this struggle for 10 years and to launch new struggles around the caravan’s three themes: the struggle for land, water, and peasant seeds,” said Oumou Aminata Dramé, a member of Senegal’s National Platform CGLTE-AO.

Under the theme “Caravan on the March Toward the 2026 World Social Forum in Cotonou,” this regional mobilization aims to strengthen citizens’ struggles over land, water, farmers’ seeds, and community rights.

It seeks to promote the active participation of social movements, farmers’ organizations, local governments, women, youth, and citizens in the World Social Forum scheduled to take place in Cotonou.

““We are carrying messages for environmental protection, strong advocacy for the adoption of agroecology across all regions, and for social justice—particularly regarding communities’ access to land—so that they can carry out their activities and live with dignity in their homelands,” explained Oumou Aminata Dramé.

“We are also carrying a message of social justice in support of women’s rights because women are today the pillars of this agroecological transition that we are advocating for—not only within the Convergence but also across the global movement,” she continued.

According to the terms of reference, the Tambacounda leg of the tour serves as a space for dialogue, citizen mobilization, and the convergence of struggles centered on food sovereignty, climate justice, natural resource governance, and community-led alternatives.

This caravan aims, not only to build on past achievements but also to strengthen the mobilization of stakeholders in Senegal and the subregion for active participation in the 2026 World Social Forum in Cotonou, with the aim of contributing to the “development of citizen-led alternatives for more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable territories.”

Source: aps.sn/