Nairobi, 7 September 2021
Today the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), representing some 200 million small-scale food producers, alongside 160 international organizations from 40 countries, release an open letter calling on donors to stop funding the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
Our Alliance in June wrote to AGRA’s donors asking them to provide evidence to refute research showing that the 15-year-old industrial agriculture initiative has failed to improve incomes and food security for the millions of small-scale food producers it targeted. We received few responses and no credible evidence.
Now, as AGRA’s Green Revolution Forum opens, we challenge all donors to stop funding this false solution and shift their support to agroecology – a healthy, sustainable, resilient and culturally appropriate food system for Africa.
“We welcome investment in agriculture on our continent,” wrote AFSA General Coordinator Million Belay in a recent co-authored article in Scientific American, “But we seek it in a form that is democratic and responsive to the people at the heart of agriculture.”
The open letter was initiated by AFSA’s 35 member networks along with five allied organizations and now endorsed by 160 international organizations. AFSA presented its demands at a September 2 press conference and now issues a direct challenge to AGRA donors.
The text of the letter, available in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, is copied below, and available as a PDF download here
