Over the past few months, AGRA Watch’s core members have developed a position statement, responding to the appropriation of our analysis to serve causes we do not agree with (including right-wing and anti-vaccine agendas). We strongly object to baseless conspiracy theories about Bill Gates and the Gates Foundation, which detract from our research and organizing […]
Category Archives: Agra Watch News
Announcing Ep4 of Rich Appetites docuseries!
We are SO EXCITED to announce today’s launch of “Science,” the fourth episode in our Rich Appetites docuseries, co-produced with the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA). Watch Episode 4 now!! (10min) Rich Appetites details how American billionaires and philanthro-capitalists like Bill Gates and his Foundation are underwriting the corporate control of African food systems under the […]
Women Farmers in Africa are Leading the Way Towards Agroecological Food Systems
Summary by AGRA Watch intern Sarah Muniz In Africa, about 60% of people work as small-scale food producers in some capacity, and at least half of those are women. Women play a critical role in agriculture, including in sorting, saving, and sharing seeds. A recent report entitled African Women Speak Out for Agroecology details how […]
Industrial Agriculture Doesn’t “Feed the World”: Debunking Common Myths and Misconceptions
We’re delighted to announce that we’ve published our companion guide to Rich Appetites Episode 1 (The Foundation)! This guide is available in three formats: as a page on the film website, a Google Doc, and a PDF (available for download on the webpage). The companion guide goes into more detail on topics covered in the first film, diving […]
The African Union moves to support industrial agriculture over the African people
A summary by AGRA Watch intern Sarah Muniz In February 2022, the African Union (AU) came out in support of two sets of guidelines for the harmonization of seed and the use of biotechnology in food and agriculture in Africa, despite public concern and outrage over the decision. Biotechnology in agriculture centers largely around genetically […]
TAKE ACTION NOW! Call on USAID to end support to failing “Green Revolution”
Please take action today to stand with African farmers! Join our campaign calling on the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to stop using taxpayer money to fund the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). AGRA is a highly unpopular and failing initiative that imposes corporate-dominated industrial agriculture on African farmers. USAID has […]
AGRA is failing farmers, but helping foreign corporations
An analysis by AGRA Watch In late February, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) released an external evaluation of its Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa (PIATA) program. Launched in 2017, PIATA aimed to transform agriculture into an engine of economic growth and claimed that it would increase incomes and improve […]
Small farmers feed the world
by AGRA Watch intern Sarah Muniz The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently issued a report that supports the damaging myth that small-scale producers are not viable nor capable of feeding the global population; this further perpetuates the belief that the industrial food system is best. In response, eight organizations wrote a letter […]
IATP Press Release: ALLIANCE FOR A GREEN REVOLUTION IN AFRICA STILL FAILING AFRICA’S FARMERS
ALLIANCE FOR A GREEN REVOLUTION IN AFRICA STILL FAILING AFRICA’S FARMERS March 4, 2022 Donor-funded evaluation shows “AGRA did not meet its headline goal” to reduce hunger Cambridge, Mass.—A new donor-commissioned evaluation of the controversial Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) reveals serious shortcomings in the 15-year-old initiative’s efforts to “catalyze a farming […]
Book Launch with Vandana Shiva & Heather Day: Watch the event
Book Launch with Vandana Shiva & Heather Day: Watch the event If you missed the launch of the new book edited by Vandana Shiva, Philanthrocapitalism and the Erosion of Democracy, watch the one hour event, or read the transcript. CAGJ’s director Heather Day was invited to speak alongside Shiva as AGRA Watch contributed a chapter […]