AGRA Watch is a grassroots, Seattle-based group challenging the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s questionable agricultural programs in Africa, including its Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). The Gates Foundation and AGRA claim to be “pro-poor” and “pro-environment,” but their approach is closely aligned with transnational corporations, such as Monsanto, and foreign policy actors like USAID. They take advantage of food and global climate crises to promote high-tech, market-based, industrial agriculture and generate profits for corporations even while degrading the environment and disempowering farmers. Their programs are a form of philanthrocapitalism based on biopiracy.
Recent updates and actions:
AFSA REPORT: Investigation Exposes AGRA’s Undue Influence on African Agricultural Policies
As delegates gather in Dakar, Senegal for AGRA’s African Food Systems Forum, a powerful counter-narrative is emerging from civil society. The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), together with West African partners in the 3AO platform, today launches a landmark investigative report: “Challenging the Green Revolution: Exposing AGRA’s Undue Influence on African Agricultural Policies.”
This groundbreaking study reveals how the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), heavily funded by the Gates Foundation, has shifted its strategy from working with farmers to steering agricultural policies across the continent – often behind closed doors and at the expense of food sovereignty, agroecology, and democratic governance.
“AGRA’s fingerprints are all over Africa’s agricultural policies. They represent an attack on African food sovereignty.” – Dr. Million Belay, AFSA General Coordinator
Key Findings
The report provides detailed evidence from Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Zambia, and across Africa, showing how AGRA:
- Embeds consultants in government ministries to shape national policies;
- Promotes hybrid and genetically modified seeds, synthetic fertilizers, and industrial monocultures;
- Undermines agroecological alternatives and farmer-managed seed systems;
- Co-opts grassroots initiatives, such as the agroecology policy in Vihiga County, Kenya;
- Influences continental frameworks, including the AU’s Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit and the Post-Malabo process, often sidelining civil society voices;
- Prioritizes corporate-led agriculture, exacerbating dependency on foreign inputs and eroding local control over food systems.
AFSA’s Response
The launch event, held in parallel to AGRA’s forum, features panel discussions, testimonies from farmer leaders, and calls to action. AFSA is urging African governments, development partners, and regional institutions to:
- Reject externally driven, corporate-controlled agricultural models;
- Prioritize agroecology, food sovereignty, and farmer-led innovation;
- Establish robust mechanisms for transparency and accountability in policy development;
- Ensure African voices shape African agriculture.
About the Report
Commissioned by AFSA, this investigation is the most comprehensive exposé to date on AGRA’s policy influence. It draws on field interviews, government documents, and testimonies from civil society, researchers, and farmer networks. It builds a powerful case for shifting away from the AGRA model toward a just, sustainable agricultural future.
“Only agroecology can deliver true food sovereignty for our people.” — Mariama Sonko, Chair, We are the Solution
Download the full report
For further information and interviews:
- Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa Comms – [email protected]
- Ferdinand Wafula – Bio Gardening Innovations, Kenya – [email protected]
- Mutinta Nketani – Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity (ZAAB) – [email protected]
- Million Belay, PhD, General coordinator, Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, [email protected]
- Timothy Wise, senior advisor, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy; Global Development and Environment Institute, Tufts University, [email protected]
