Traded Away: how EU trade agreements undermine the food systems that actually work

This is not just a Kenyan story. It is a trade policy story.

Today, Both ENDS publishes Traded Away: EU Free Trade Agreements and the Undermining of Agroecology in Brazil, Kenya, and Indonesia. The report shows how EU trade agreements with these three countries undermine the conditions needed for agroecological food systems to thrive. Developed together with researchers and partner organisations in all three countries, the report builds on decades of work linking local realities to the global rules that shape them.

Three agreements

The analysis focuses on three agreements: the EU-Kenya Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), the EU-Mercosur Association Agreement, and the EU-Indonesia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). While often presented as voluntary partnerships, these agreements were negotiated under unequal conditions and leave limited room for countries to shape the rules on their own terms.

The report identifies three ways in which these agreements restrict agroecological transitions:

• Seed sovereignty is weakened. Intellectual property rules aligned with UPOV 1991 restrict farmers’ rights to save and exchange seeds, strengthening corporate control over seed systems.
• Public procurement space is reduced. Governments face growing limitations in using public purchasing programmes to support local and agroecological producers.
• Sustainability commitments lack enforcement. While trade rules are legally binding, environmental and climate commitments remain largely voluntary.

Taken together, these provisions form a trade architecture that favours agribusiness, narrows policy space for governments, and makes it harder to support the farming systems that are already delivering food security, biodiversity, and climate resilience.

The report’s central message is clear: agroecology works. Across Brazil, Kenya, and Indonesia, farming communities are already building diverse, locally adapted food systems that reduce dependence on external inputs and strengthen resilience. Yet EU trade policy continues to reward export-oriented monocultures and corporate control rather than protecting the conditions these alternatives need to grow.

The question is no longer whether agroecology is a viable solution. The question is whether the EU is willing to stop exporting rules that make it structurally harder to practise and scale.

The report was developed in close collaboration with researchers and partners from Brazil, Kenya, and Indonesia.

Join our webinar

What do these trade agreements mean for farmers, food sovereignty, and the future of agroecology? Join us on 30 June for the launch webinar of Traded Away, where researchers and partners from Brazil, Kenya, Indonesia, and Europe will discuss the report's findings and explore what they mean for policy and practice.

Details
Date: 30 June
???? 15:00 CET
???? 10:00 Brasília
???? 16:00 Nairobi
???? 20:00 Jakarta

Speakers
Speakers include lead author Fernando Hernandez (Both ENDS) alongside co-authors:
???????? Brazil — Priscilla Papagiannis Torres
???????? Kenya — Africa Kiiza
???????? Indonesia — Arieska Kurniawaty

> Register