ABSTRACT
Land, agriculture and natural resources have been at the heart of relations between Europe and Africa since ancient times. In the 19th century, European colonialism created an elaborate system of resource extraction, based on widespread dispossession and exploitation of the African population, the influence of which endures to the present day. This chapter provides an overview of the evolution of the relationship between the European Union (EU) and African states in the interrelated areas of agriculture, land and food. In 2006 the EU launched its European Consensus on Development, revised as the New European Consensus on Development in 2017. The reform of the CAP from 2011 clearly set out the tensions between the desire of the EU to remain a major global producer of food and the desire to support small farmers and agricultural enterprises in developing countries.
