Press Advisory

Our Africa, Our Agriculture African farmers and faith leaders demand an end to the failed Green Revolution

4PM Kigali / 5PM Nairobi / 10AM Washington D.C.

Thursday, Sept. 1st

REGISTER HERE

Ahead of the annual African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF), African civil society, faith groups, and farmer leaders will hold a virtual press conference to call for an end to the failing Green Revolution. The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has deepened the continent’s dependence on costly imported inputs and undermined the resilience of Africa’s food systems.

At the AGRF forum on Sept. 5-9, corporate executives, governments and donors will gather in Kigali under the banner of "Bold Action for Resilient Food Systems." However, Africa's largest food producer networks and its allies are boldly demanding a decisive shift away from imported fossil-fuel based fertilizers and chemicals, and towards self-sufficient, ecological farming that revitalizes soil and protects ecosystems. This was made clear in a letter from the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, signed by over 200 organizations, and delivered last year to AGRA’s donors.

The Alliance is calling for this press conference after AGRA and its donors (Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, USAID, etc…) failed to heed urgent calls to change course. Furthermore, a recent AGRA donor-commissioned evaluation has confirmed that the programs have failed to increase farmers’ yields, incomes and food security. Despite the evidence from their own evaluation, AGRA continues enriching fertilizer multinationals with record profits while hunger in Africa surges to alarming levels. International Financial Institutions, including the African Development Bank, are using the current food crisis to channel public money towards these corporations and further the adoption of chemical agriculture and monocrops in Africa.

At this press conference, community leaders will explain:

• How dependency on foreign inputs harms Africa’s resilience to the climate crisis

• Why AGRA’s initiatives undermine crop/diet diversity and ecosystems

• How they now produce ecologically sound alternatives to synthetic fertilizers

Speakers will include AFSA members and allies:

• Anne Maina - Biodiversity and Biosafety Association of Kenya (Moderator)
• Anuradha Mittal - Oakland Institute
• Gabriel Manyangadze - Southern African Faith Communities' Environment Institute
• Ferdinand Wafula - Bio Gardening Innovations
• Leonida Odongo - Haki Nawiri

The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) is Africa’s largest civil society movement bringing together farmers, pastoralists, fishers, Indigenous, faith groups, women’s movements, youth and consumer associations in a united voice for food sovereignty on the continent. It is a network of networks operating in 50 African countries, representing 200 million people.

For inquiries and sources, reach: kirubel.tadele@afsafrica.org; josh@agrowingculture.org