AFSA’s Agroecology Land Trust project
AFSA is working towards the establishment of an Agroecology Land Trust (formerly Agrarian Trust). The vision for an Agroecology Land Trust (ALT) is:
Farmland held in commons, providing First Peoples and agroecology-oriented farmers secure tenure and equitable access to farmland, and promoting fair, just and sovereign local and regional agri-food systems
The Agroecology Land Trust will be an entity that acquires, holds and stewards agricultural land, providing secure farming tenure to small-scale agroecology-oriented farmers. Housing for farmers on the land is also envisaged. Place-based, farmer and First Peoples-led stewardship and governance is envisaged.
Read the Vision and Mission Statement for the Agroecology Land Trust.
Agroecology Land Trust: key features
Permanent agroecological stewardship
Agroecology harnesses, maintains and enhances biological and ecological processes in agricultural production, reducing the use of off-farm inputs that include fossil fuels and agrochemicals and creating more diverse, resilient and productive agroecosystems, while promoting everybody’s right to democratically participate in food and agriculture systems.
For further information on agroecology see AFSA’s People’s Food Plan – The Solution: Agroecology .
In keeping with the principles of agroecology, conservation is integral to AFSA’s Agroecology Land Trust project. Existing quality native bush on Agroecology Land Trust properties will be protected through various means, which could include:
- Permanent protection via covenants such as, in Victoria, Trust for Nature’s Conservation Covenant and its new pilot Farm Covenant
- Property management plans that set parameters for farming practices so as to promote agroecology oriented farming that enhances the ecological values of the farming areas and the bushland areas. These parameters could be built into the leases to farmers.
Place-based stewardship and governance
The use and stewardship of ALT held land will keep governance in the hands of the community closest to it, including local farmers and First Peoples.
The aim is place-based stewardship that respects and harnesses the value of deep connection to and knowledge of place among First Peoples, farmers and local communities.
Secure tenure for farmers
Land access and security of tenure are the most significant barriers for aspiring farmers committed to agroecology in Australia. Among the drivers of this problem are rising costs of land, conversion of land away from farming uses, and insecure short-term farm leases.
The ALT will hold and steward land to convey affordable, equitable leases for the purposes of agroecology oriented farming for secure local food access, ecological sustainability and community benefit.
Non-extractive financial mechanisms
In order to guide our work while remaining aligned with AFSA’s theory of change rooted in Food Sovereignty and Agroecology, the trust will closely follow the economic principles developed for this purpose. This work stems from what AFSA means by non-extractive finance, outlining a series of economic principles to guide our funding model. The economic principles are useful for AFSA’s Agroecology Land Trust to ensure no rent, debt, interest, or shareholder dividends burden land custodians while decommodifying land for agroecology and offering a potentially ruptural and interstitial transformation.
Progress to date
Funding has been sourced for Stage 1 – the legal structuring phase – which is scheduled to run for 18 months from June 2025. A consultancy firm, Co-operative Bonds, has been engaged to assist with developing a legal structure and governance processes, creating the founding legal documents (constitution, membership rules etc), and establishing the legal entities. It is envisaged that during Stage 1, legal, accounting and tax professionals will also be consulted.
The Steering Committee (SC), which succeeded the Working Group which ran the project for approximately two years until May 2025, had its first meeting in June 2025. The second of two 3/4 day workshops facilitated by Co-operative Bonds was held on 16th November 2025 in Central Victoria. Co-operative Bonds submitted its report in late November 2025. Further detail on progress so far, including the proposed organisational structure in the Co-operative Bonds report, is provided in the March 2026 newsletter for the project.
Michel Sabto, who led the administrative and research work for Stage 1 of this project, has now moved on to new adventures. AFSA and the ALT Steering Committee extend their sincere gratitude to Michele for the energy, care, and commitment she brought to this foundational phase of the project.
Building on this strong groundwork, the project continues as the Steering Committee remains collectively engaged in bringing the Agroecology Land Trust to life. Following the completion of the Co-operative Bonds report review in June 2026, the team is now focused on developing non-extractive financial mechanisms, with further progress expected before the end of the year.
As we farewell original Steering Committee members Serenity Hill and Sarah de Wit, we also warmly welcome two new members: Tyá Dynevor, AFSA’s First Peoples Focal Group Coordinator, and Amy Cohen, Honorary Professor of Law at UNSW Law School.
Watch this space!
Join us
Subscribe to the email newsletter for the project.
AFSA’s Agroecology Land Trust working group welcomes expressions of interest from potential collaborators and interested parties. There is also a Slack Channel for those interested in the project to talk to each other. To join the channel, please email Antoine (Chair).
