The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), a network of 35 groups in Africa, is calling on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, U.S. government and other donors to stop funding harmful industrial agriculture and shift their funding and policy advocacy to support African-led efforts to expand agroecology.
Key articles by the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa
African faith leaders ignored by Gates Foundation
In June, the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute and nearly 500 African faith leaders sent an open letter to the Gates Foundation asking them to stop funding industrial agriculture in Africa. They received no response.
University research confirms Green Revolution’s failures
Research published last year confirmed that AGRA was “failing on its own terms,” with slow productivity growth, persistent poverty, and rising hunger. AGRA has failed to provide evidence to refute the findings.
False Promises: The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, a report from Rosa Luxemburg-Stiftung based on Wise’s research, July 2020
Africa’s Choice: Africa’s Green Revolution has failed, time to change course, Timothy A. Wise, IATP Policy Brief, July 2020. (Also available in French.)
Worsening hunger
Hunger in AGRA’s target countries rose more than 30% since 2006, according to UN data. The sharp rise in hunger occurred even as African governments spent as much as $1 billion per year subsidizing the “green revolution” package of commercial seeds and agrichemicals.
According to the 2021 UN hunger report, two thirds of the people in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2020 did not have reliable access to adequate food, and nearly a third of them suffered severe food insecurity.
UN experts urge shift to agroecology
More Resources
Conclusion - Mariann
AGRA funders contacted by AFSA in June : Private foundations: Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Raikes Foundation; Corporate foundations: IKEA Foundation, Mastercard Foundation, Yara; Bilateral Donors: U.S. Agency for International Development; the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (UK); Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (Germany); Global Affairs Canada, International Development Research Centre (Canada); Kingdom of the Netherlands; the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD
SAFCEI (Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute) is a multi-faith organisation committed to supporting faith leaders and their communities in Southern Africa to increase awareness, understanding and action on eco-justice, sustainable living and climate change.
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