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Common agricultural policies in Africa have emerged and multiplied in the last decade. This can be understood as resulting from specific policy transfers. The first part of the paper underlines a very high level of influence by external actors (international organisations, bilateral cooperation, NGOs) on both the nature (policy objectives, instruments) and decision processes of these policies. The second part looks at the reception of the policy transfers. Despite a very low level of implementation of the policies, some learning processes can be underlined, as regarding peasants’ organisations in particular. The emergence of these common agricultural policies have provided them with new political resources and arenas, and they are now in a better position to participate actively to the evolving contemporary debate on agricultural policies in Africa.