{"id":2200,"date":"2023-01-27T11:43:45","date_gmt":"2023-01-27T19:43:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aladaymobilemedia.com\/?p=2200"},"modified":"2023-01-27T11:43:45","modified_gmt":"2023-01-27T19:43:45","slug":"afsa-press-release-200-organizations-ask-gates-foundation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aladaymobilemedia.com\/es\/afsa-press-release-200-organizations-ask-gates-foundation\/","title":{"rendered":"AFSA PRESS RELEASE …..200 Organizations Ask Gates Foundation"},"content":{"rendered":"

to Stop Funding \u2018Failed\u2019 Green Revolution…<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Just how Dangerous is Bill????<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This ‘Green Revolution’ has really become a joke. It literally costs more and causes more destruction to the earth that we are saving by driving the EV that costs twice to produce what a combustion engine costs . In addition the electricity to recharge these wonderful earth saving Electric Vehicles,\u00a0 (EV’s) has to come from fossil fuels that this dipshit administration has waged a war on….go figure.<\/p>\n

The billion-dollar Alliance for a Green Revolution has \u201cunequivocally failed in its mission\u201d and \u201charmed broader efforts to support African farmers,\u201d said 200 groups in a letter to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the U.S. Agency for International Development and other donors.<\/p>\n

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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).<\/p>\n

Our Alliance in June\u00a0wrote to AGRA’s donors\u00a0<\/a>asking them to provide evidence to refute\u00a0research showing\u00a0<\/a>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.<\/p>\n

Now, as AGRA’s Green Revolution Forum opens, we challenge all donors to stop funding this false solution and shift their support\u00a0to agroecology – a healthy, sustainable, resilient and culturally appropriate food system for Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe welcome investment in agriculture on our continent,\u201d wrote AFSA General Coordinator Million Belay in a\u00a0recent co-authored article in Scientific American<\/a>, \u201cBut we seek it in a form that is\u00a0democratic and responsive\u00a0to the people at the heart of agriculture.”<\/p>\n

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\u00a0press conference<\/a>\u00a0and now issues a direct challenge to AGRA donors.<\/p>\n

The text of the letter, available in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, is copied below.<\/strong><\/p>\n

ENDS<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Notes for editors<\/strong><\/p>\n

For more information and interviews contact:<\/p>\n

Kirubel Teshome, AFSA Communications Officer, kirubel.tadele@afsafrica.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Million Belay, PhD, General Coordinator, Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa,\u00a0million.belay@afsafrica.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Anne Maina, National Coordinator, Biodiversity and Biosafety Association of Kenya;\u00a0anne.maina@bibakenya.org<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

OPEN LETTER TO AGRA DONORS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Call to end support for Green Revolution programs in Africa<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear donor representative,<\/p>\n

We, 35 organizations from the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) and 165 allied organizations in 40 countries around the world, call on your agency to cease funding the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and other Green Revolution programs and to support African-led efforts to expand agroecology and other low-input farming systems.<\/p>\n

AFSA, the continent’s largest network of civil society organizations, wrote to AGRA donors in May 2021 asking for evidence of the program’s positive impacts. The network received few replies and no evidence.<\/p>\n

AGRA has unequivocally failed in its mission to increase productivity and incomes and reduce food insecurity, and has in fact harmed broader efforts to support African farmers.<\/p>\n

Over a decade of research has exposed the failure of AGRA on its own terms. After nearly 15 years and spending of\u00a0more than US$1 billion\u00a0<\/a>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\u00a0has failed to provide\u00a0evidence<\/a>\u00a0that yields, incomes or food security increased significantly, and sustainably, for smallholder households across its target countries. Since the onset of AGRA\u2019s program in 2006, the number of undernourished people across these 13 countries\u00a0has increased by 30 percent.<\/a>\u00a0Even where staple crop production did increase, there was little reduction of rural poverty or hunger. Instead, diverse, climate-resilient crops that provide a more diverse and healthy diet for rural Africans have been displaced.<\/p>\n

The role played by AGRA is of serious concern for several reasons:<\/p>\n