CALL TO DEFUND INDUSTRIAL AGRO IN AFRICA

alliance of faithbased and civil society groups working for food sovereignty and sustainability in Africa called on donors to stop funding the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa and other programs that promote industrialized agriculture on the continent.

The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa is the continent’s largest network of faithbased organizations and other civil society groups, representing more than 200 million farmers, fishers, pastoralists, and Indigenous peoples across Africa.

This week, AFSA delivered a letter — endorsed by international organizations — to AGRA donors, saying “AGRA has unequivocally failed in its mission to increase productivity and incomes and reduce food insecurity,” and stated in a press release that AGRA “does not speak for African small-scale farmers.”

It said AGRA, which was created with the goal of transforming smallholder agricultural ventures into farming businesses, should be defunded and said donors should instead “support African-led efforts to expand agroecology and other low-input farming systems.”

AFSA also criticized AGRA for promoting monoculture farming — growing only one crop at each time on a specific field — as that forces farmers to rely on chemicals that harm the environment while making the farmers themselves dependent on corporations and long supply chains. ASFA said the organization’s strategy “undermines resilience, and increases the risks of debt for small-scale farmers in the face of climate change.”

“After nearly 15 years and spending of more than US$1 billion to promote the use of commercial seeds, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides in 13 African countries, and additional US$1 billion per year of African government subsidies for seeds and fertilizers, AGRA has failed to provide evidence that yields, incomes or food security increased significantly, and sustainably, for smallholder households across its target countries,” the letter stated.