AES: Spearheading the agrarian and sovereignist overhaul of the Sahel
The Confederation of Sahel States (AES) is far from an ordinary institutional construct; it is now establishing itself as a civilizational project, driven by a Pan-African vision firmly committed to sovereignty. In Bamako, on September 20, 2025, a strategic ministerial session was held on agricultural development within the AES.
More than just a technical forum, this meeting crystallized a clear political will to liberate Sahelian agriculture from the chains of dependency and make it the lever for a new social, economic, and political contract between the states and peoples of the Sahel.
The AES is a game-changer. With an integrated approach, this Confederation is anchoring agrarian transformation at the heart of the Sahel’s rebuilding.
The ongoing development of a Common Agricultural Policy, the foundation for a rural development protocol, marks a historic break from the fragmentation of national strategies.
This signifies the birth of a collective food sovereignty, backed by joint investments, local scientific research, and the training of a new generation of producers and agronomists rooted in our realities.
The strategic alignment of the three member states Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger on priority sectors, the synergizing of human resources, and the pooling of technical resources all testify to a profound paradigm shift.
In Burkina Faso, the Agropastoral and Halieutic Offensive 2023-2025 fits perfectly within this dynamic.
The results are visible on the ground, and the ministers are present there.
They are no longer disconnected civil servants, but champions of development who are building, alongside the people, the foundations of an agrarian renaissance.
The AES is not merely a political space; it is a laboratory for tangible sovereignty. By restoring control over our seeds, our water, our land, and our markets, it gives the Sahel back the keys to its own destiny. Here, agriculture is not an archaic relic, but a modern weapon of liberation.
Neil CAMARA
