The ABN focuses its work around a number of key issues:

SEED SOVEREIGNTY

Seed sovereignty is the basis of food sovereignty and a critical factor in preventing dependency, vulnerability,poverty, hunger, famine and strategies for dealing with climate change. ABN develops actions to support farmer communities to maintain and increase their agro-biodiversity and sustainability through reviving and enhancing their traditional seed and livestock diversity. In addition, we are working together to ensure that regional and national policies support and promote traditional seed diversity, farmers rights and small-holder farmers.

CULTURAL BIODIVERSITY

Protecting and reviving cultural biodiversity is critical to ABN. Methods to promote cultural biodiversity include intergenerational learning and community dialogues to recuperate knowledge and customary practices embedded in African cultures that enhance and protect biodiversity. This knowledge is being undermined by westernized education. The ABN supports partners work with young people and schools to rekindle the relationship between the youth and elders to ensure that the upcoming African generation values their cultural knowledge and puts it into practice. Cultural biodiversity revitalises our communities and builds youth leadership, developing leaders that will champion the protection of African biodiversity - and related knowledge and practices - and community rights into the future.

COMMUNITY ECOLOGICAL GOVERNANCE (CEG)

CEG is an integrated approach developed to strengthen community governance systems, norms and practices which protect livelihoods and the environment. These are increasingly trampled by globalising trends to privatise land, water, biodiversity and knowledge. Sacred site networks are places of critical cultural, spiritual and ecological significance embedded in community's territories, especially where cultural practises are still intact. Ensuring the protection of these potent places is usually a priority for communities and thus inspires the need to reinvigorate cultural governance systems. The ABN supports the recuperation and strengthening of community ecological governance systems and seeks to gain legal recognition of these sites and associated governance systems.

RESILIENCE

The ABN defines resilience as the ability of a community to withstand negative internal and external pressures and threats. Resilience enables adaptation and strength, coherence and intergenerational learning. Communities can be resilient when they are empowered, clear about their priorities and their future and can act together to protect their rights.