Latest Resources
5 May 2017
Green Revolution Factsheet 3: Farmers have alternatives
The third factsheet in this 8-part series looks at the alternatives to industrial monoculture. Chichewa | English | Nyanja | Portuguese | Sesotho | Setswana | Shona | Siswati | Swahili | For the next factsheet in the series, click here.
5 May 2017
Green Revolution Factsheet 2: What is wrong with the Green Revolution
The Green Revolution is the introduction of high-yielding seed varieties and modern farming techniques. Part 2 of this 8-part factsheet series looks at what is wrong with the Green Revolution on the African continent. Chichewa | English | Nyanja | Portuguese | Sesotho | Setswana | Shona | Siswati | Swahili | Xhosa Click here […]
5 May 2017
Green Revolution Factsheet 1: What is the Green Revolution
The Green Revolution is the introduction of high-yielding seed varieties and modern farming techniques. Our 8-part factsheet series explores the impact of these developments on food production and farming. Chichewa | English | Nyanja | Portuguese | Sesotho | Setswana | Shona | Siswati | Swahili | Xhosa For the next factsheet click here. Download […]
20 June 2016
Green Revolution dead-end in Malawi: Two case studies— AGRA’s Pigeon Pea Project and Malawi’s Agr...
This report that the Alliance for a Green Revolution’s ( AGRA’s) sponsored pigeon pea project in Malawi was a dismal failure and its agrodealer project had some major and fundamental weaknesses. The AGRA pigeon pea project and the Malawi Agro-dealer Strengthening Programme (MASP) were implemented under AGRA’s Soil Health Programme (SHP) and the Programme for […]
3 April 2016
Africa to lose heritage crops to multinationals ‘donating’ GM technology
The African Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), in a new report titled, “For your own good!” The chicanery behind GM non-commercial ‘orphan crops’ and rice for Africa shows that the GM industry is expanding its grasp to African traditional crops such as cassava, sorghum, sweet potato, pigeon pea, cowpea, banana as well as rice under the […]
4 December 2015
The expansion of the commercial seed sector in sub-Saharan Africa: Major players, key issues and ...
Sub-Saharan Africa’s seed systems are undergoing a profound transition, with the private sector leading the way. This report outlines some of the major trends and activities of the major players involved in this, from Monsanto and DuPont Pioneer to the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the broader donor community.
30 August 2015
AFAP in Ghana, Mozambique and Tanzania—for profits or people?
The chemical fertiliser push in Africa and its implications for smallholder farmers is not receiving enough attention in current discourses concerning Green Revolution policies and practises in Africa. Yet chemical fertilisers are big business on the continent, where its adoption is strongly supported by African governments through subsidy schemes and regional organisations such as NEPAD, […]
12 May 2015
Grabbing Africa’s seeds: USAID, EU and Gates Foundation back agribusiness seed takeover
The latest salvo in the battle over Africa’s seed systems has been fired, writes Stephen Greenberg, with the Gates Foundation and USAID playing puppet-masters to Africa’s governments – now meeting in Addis Ababa – as they drive forward corporation-friendly seed regulations that exclude and marginalize the small farmers whose seeds and labour feed the continent. […]
17 March 2015
Nuanced rhetoric and the path to poverty: AGRA, small-scale farmers, and seed and soil fertility ...
The report indicates a well-coordinated effort by selected states especially the US and in the EU, philanthropic institutions like AGRA, multilateral institutions like the World Bank, donors and multinational corporations (MNCs) including Yara, Monsanto and Pioneer to construct a Green Revolution that aims to produce a layer of commercial surplus producers. This is an explicit […]
6 October 2014
Running to Stand Still: Small-Scale Farmers and the Green Revolution in Malawi
According to ACB lead researcher, Dr Stephen Greenberg, “small-scale farmers are using shockingly high levels of synthetic fertilisers at great financial costs to themselves and the public purse. Rising soil infertility is a feature of farming systems reliant on synthetic fertiliser. We found that farmers are increasingly adopting hybrid maize seed, encouraged by government subsidies […]