Africa food alliance opposes AGRA

The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) is planning strategies to resist production using genetically modified (GM) seeds. According to a report in Ghana News Agency, the network of farming organisations opposes Bill Gate’s Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the new G8 Alliance for food security, which they see as part of an agenda to “corporatise” and gain from food production in Africa, and not to meet the needs of Africa and its partners. They said such initiatives are taking place without consultation from farmers.

In the report, AFSA chair , Bern Guri was quoted as saying,  “The combined effect of these initiatives is to hand over Africa’s food and seed sovereignty to foreign corporations, reducing the availability of local plant varieties, weakening Africa’s rich biodiversity, and denying millions of farmers the right to breed and share crops needed to feed their families.”

The Alliance is scheduled to hold a workshop on these issues from 12-16 August in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

AFSA is a Pan African platform includes the African Biodiversity network, Coalition for the Protection of African Genetic Heritage, Comparing and Supporting Endogenous Development Africa, Friends of the Earth- Africa, Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee and Participatory Ecological Land Use Management Association. Other members are the Eastern and Southern African Small Scale Farmers Forum, La Via Campesina Africa, World Neighbours, Network of Farmers' and Agricultural Producers' Organisations of West Africa, Community Knowledge Systems, Plate forme Sous Régionale des Organisations Paysannes d'Afrique Centrale and African Centre for Biosafety.

Related link: Bill Gates’ Statement in Response to G8 Food Security