There are growing calls from African voices to stop financing programs that promote industrial agribusiness in Africa, including the Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
Africa’s largest civil society network, the new signatures of the 35 members of the African Food Sovereignty Association (AFSA) in Africa, will require donors from AGRA and other green revolution programs to divert funds to Africa. Efforts were made to expand agro-ecology and other low-income agricultural systems. AFSA members elaborated on the letter’s questions at a September 2 virtual press conference.
Next week, AFAS will present its letters to donors, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the governments of the United States, Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and Canada, at the Agara Annual Green Revolution Forum. In June, the AFAS sent evidence to AGRA donors that the program was benefiting African farmers. AFSA received few responses and no evidence, prompting the public letter.
Two Visions for Agriculture in Africa
AFSA General Coordinator Million Belay said in a press statement that Agara’s agricultural vision is in stark contrast to the vision of African farmers, fishermen, Indigenous people, pastoralists, faith-based institutions, women’s networks and civil vision. Society in general.
“The First Vision, the Green Revolution, has very strong supporters,” said Belay, including corporations, governments and government agencies, and charities such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Green Revolution encouraged the production of high-value commodities and a strong dependence on chemical inputs, agricultural chemicals, artificial fertilizers, and pesticides. Converting farmers to commercial seed and chemical use will increase the dependence on celebrities, corporations, and local costs.
This vision has had the opportunity to play in Africa for the past 15 years under the leadership of a partner. According to the AFSA letter, “Agra will use its financial resources to encourage African governments to focus on increasing the continent’s agricultural production at the expense of hunger and poverty, including the exploitation of the continent’s people and natural resources that have not benefited Africans for centuries.”
Tim. According to Wise, “After 15 years and more than a billion dollars in funding, AGRA has not been able to bring about a productive revolution in African agriculture. Farmers’ production has not grown significantly, poverty continues, and the number of long-term hungry people in AGRA 13 targets has increased by 30 percent. It is a time for donors to listen to African farmers and community leaders. AGRA itself has not provided any convincing evidence of its effectiveness.
Agrological Option
The cry of African civil society is not for donors to stop investing in African agriculture. Rather, donors are a unique agricultural model that is “democratic and responsive to the core of the agricultural population” – an agrological system based on sustainable practice, equality and justice.
“We are here to make it clear that the Green Revolution in Africa does not speak to Africans,” said Anne Maina, director of the Kenya Biodiversity and Biosafety Association and a member of AFAS.
Belay said African farmers have been able to produce healthy, nutritious, culturally appropriate food that will have a positive impact on the environment. They want their food rights to be respected and protected. They want to practice agrology. “Farmers across Africa have shown even more promising results by sharing knowledge and, in collaboration with scientists, leaving low-income farming techniques in the hands of African farmers,” the letter said.
Francesca de Gasparis, executive director of the South African Confederation of Religious Communities (SAFCEI), said: ). SAFCEI launched a letter signed by about 500 community leaders and sent to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The foundation did not respond.
Moment of action
The press release falls on September 23 during the UN Food Programme’s meeting. Agras Kalibata, President of AGRA .
In a press statement, Marian Bassey-Orovijuje, a friend of Earth Africa, appealed to donors to stop imposing plans on African farmers and communities on industrial development. It is important that donors heed the call, led by the UN Food Summit and the possible fundraising campaign.
“If the billions of dollars that had been spent in Agara’s treasury were given to a small farmer who fed us properly, we would have access to healthy, nutritious, varied food and enough food to feed our continent,” said Bassie-Orovejje.
Maria Zardia, an unsolved image