Background

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), funded through Congressional appropriations of tax dollars, is a major contributor to agricultural development programs in Africa and globally. USAID has increasingly aligned itself with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), a highly unpopular initiative created by the Gates and Rockefeller Foundations in 2006 to promote chemical-intensive, private sector-dominated industrial agriculture in Africa. In 2011, USAID committed $5.2 million to AGRA, and remains a significant funding partner of many of AGRA’s programs (for example, in 2020 it contributed $14 million to AGRA’s PIATA program, which a recent evaluation has deemed a failure). AGRA has failed at its own stated goals of increasing yields and reducing hunger, and African farmer organizations have repeatedly spoken out against it and demanded that donors stop funding it. Yet USAID has expressed intentions to continue supporting it, even amid numerous reports of failure. 

African farmers and civil society organizations have recently made their case to members of the US Congress, encouraging them to put pressure on USAID to fund more promising agroecological alternatives, particularly as Congress gears up to vote on re-authorizing the Global Food Security Act this year. As these discussions continue in Congress, we are asking individuals to take action—tell USAID that enough is enough! Click on the button below to add your name to the letter and send it to USAID. 

With enough signatures, we will report the results of this campaign to members of Congress, demonstrating widespread public support for the demands made by African organizations. Please share widely and help us get to 10,000 signatures!

*This call to action was reviewed and approved by the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA)–composed of 30 civil society networks that together represent over 200 million African farmers—and the Southern African Faith Communities Environment Institute (SAFCEI).


Petition

English

Using taxpayer money, USAID has funded the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), which largely benefits multinational corporations at the expense of small farmers and the environment. Yet hundreds of African organizations and allied international organizations have called on USAID and other donors to stop funding AGRA and other industrial, Green Revolution-inspired models of agriculture on the continent. Meanwhile, a recent evaluation commissioned by a major AGRA funder, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has found that AGRA’s PIATA program has failed to meet its own goals and targets.

Français

Avec l’argent des contribuables, l’USAID a financé l’Alliance pour une révolution verte en Afrique (AGRA), qui profite largement aux multinationales au détriment des petits agriculteurs et de l’environnement. Pourtant, des centaines d’organisations africaines et d’organisations internationales alliées ont demandé à l’USAID et à d’autres donateurs de cesser de financer l’AGRA et d’autres modèles d’agriculture industrielle inspirés de la révolution verte sur le continent. Entre-temps, une évaluation récente commandée par un important bailleur de fonds de l’AGRA, la Fondation Bill et Melinda Gates, a révélé que le programme PIATA de l’AGRA a échoué à atteindre ses propres objectifs et cibles.

Español

A través del uso de dinero recopilado por los impuestos de contribuyentes, USAID ha financiado la Alianza para una Revolución Verde en África (AGRA), que beneficia a las empresas multinacionales a costa de los pequeños agricultores y el medio ambiente. Sin embargo, cientas de organizaciones africanas y organizaciones internacionales aliadas han pedido a la USAID y a otros donantes que dejen de financiar a la AGRA y a otros  modelos agrícolas industriales inspirados en la Revolución verde en el continente  africano. Mientras tanto, una reciente evaluación encargada por uno de los principales financiadores de AGRA, la Fundación Bill y Melinda Gates, ha descubierto que el programa PIATA de AGRA no ha cumplido con sus propios objetivos y metas.


Sign the Petition

Send a letter through our campaign on Action Network: USAID: DEFUND AGRA, SUPPORT AFRICAN FARMERS