“We ask that, instead, USAID shift its support to locally-defined, holistic approaches that enable agroecological transitions to sustainable food systems in Africa.”
In a hard-hitting opinion piece in The Hill, faith leaders added their compelling voices to the chorus calling on U.S. Congress to stop funding the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). Their call comes as Congress is reauthorizing funding for the Global Food Security Act, which has provided funding to AGRA through the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Feed the Future program.
“For years, African smallholder farmers have been the supposed beneficiaries of top-down initiatives such as AGRA, which promote the use of commercial seeds and fertilizers and changes in government policies that recent studies show are harming poor farmers and the environment,” write Francesca de Gasparis of the Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI) and Fletcher Harper of the U.S.-based GreenFaith organization.
They call out USAID for dismissing findings from its own donor-commissioned evaluation that AGRA is failing to significantly improve yields, incomes, or food security.
“Faith leaders ask USAID to pause, listen to farmers, reconsider that position and stop funding AGRA and other green revolution approaches,” write de Gasparis and Harper. “We ask that, instead, USAID shift its support to locally-defined, holistic approaches that enable agroecological transitions to sustainable food systems in Africa. Such farming methods work with, rather than against biodiversity, and promote the equitable production and local marketing of nutritious food.” (Read their full commentary in The Hill.)
They thank Representatives Ilhan Omar, Sara Jacobs, and Tom Malinowski for listening to concerns presented in a March 30 congressional briefing by African civil society leaders, including de Gasparis. The three sent a letter to their colleagues calling on them to reconsider funding for AGRA.
Public pressure is mounting for Congress to act. In March, SAFCEI sent its own letter to all AGRA donors asking them to pull their funding, citing their earlier letter to AGRA’s largest donor, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, signed by 500 faith leaders across Africa. More than 200 international organizations signed a similar open letter to donors from the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA).
In the United States, the Seattle-based Community Alliance for Global Justice is supporting the African organizations with a public letter-writing campaign to USAID protesting the continued support for AGRA.
Now it is up to Congress to take action.