Investigation exposes AGRA’S undue influence on African agricultural policies
The report, commissioned by AFSA, draws on case studies from Ghana, Kenya, Mali, and Zambia
KAMPALA, September 3, 2025 – – 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”, a groundbreaking investigative report that examines how the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa [AGRA] has steered agricultural policy across the continent.
Originally launched in 2006 with the promise to double productivity and incomes while halving hunger, AGRA has shifted its focus following a damning 2022 evaluation that revealed it had failed to meet these goals. Today, instead of empowering farmers, AGRA embeds consultants into ministries, promotes hybrid and genetically modified seeds, and pushes synthetic fertilizers and export-oriented supply chains — sidelining smallholder farmers and agroecological alternatives.
The report, commissioned by AFSA, draws on case studies from Ghana, Kenya, Mali, and Zambia. It uncovers consistent patterns: undue policy influence at national, regional, and continental levels; the marginalisation of agroecology; lack of transparency and accountability; and a prioritization of corporate-driven farming systems over the food sovereignty and resilience of African people.
AGRA’s fingerprints are evident in major continental frameworks such as the African Union’s Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit, which set a roadmap to triple fertilizer use across Africa. The consequences are stark — weakened farmer-managed seed systems, exclusion of civil society voices, and the entrenchment of models that threaten biodiversity, soil health, and local food systems.
Challenging the Green Revolution calls for urgent action. AFSA recommends that African governments and regional institutions prioritise agroecology, food sovereignty, and farmer-managed seed systems; enhance transparency in policymaking; safeguard smallholder farmers’ interests; develop monitoring frameworks to counter corporate capture; and hold external actors accountable.
The report underscores the urgent need for a paradigm shift away from corporate-driven industrial agriculture toward agroecology and food sovereignty, ensuring that Africa’s food systems are sustainable, inclusive, and resilient.
AFSA’s General Coordinator Dr. Million Belay warns, “AGRA’s fingerprints are all over Africa’s agricultural policies. They represent an attack on African food sovereignty.”
This timely publication offers evidence, analysis, and a call to mobilise. AFSA is inviting policymakers, civil society, and communities to use this report as a tool for reclaiming Africa’s agricultural future.
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