AGRA in the News
2 May 2008Help Africa to feed itself, Annan urges world
ReutersFarmers in Africa could double food output in five to 10 years if rich countries partner them in a "Green Revolution" for a long-term solution to the continent's food crisis, former U.N. chief Kofi Annan said on Friday.
28 April 2008Production du riz en Afrique : LA RÉVOLUTION VERTE PASSE PAR LES VARIETES AMÉLIORÉES
L’Essor (Mali)La crise des céréales particulièrement le problème du riz continue de dominer l'actualité. Réunis récemment à Kampala (21-23 avril), le Réseau des sélectionneurs de riz de 10 pays africains dont le Mali (un consortium de sélectionneurs de riz et de chercheurs de renommée, et d’entreprises semencières) ont proposé une stratégie pour améliorer la production du riz afin de faire face à l’augmentation des prix des denrées alimentaires et à la crise des importations.
25 April 2008African rice breeders raise hope on food security
Guardian (Nigeria)THE Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) announced on Wednesday that African rice breeders had made some appreciable progress toward ensuring self-sufficiency and boosting production.
25 April 2008Africans urged to boost rice production
New Times (Rwanda)Two different groups of researchers have urged African countries to boost local rice production. TheAlliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the African Rice Breeders Network said the he move is to check the increasing global food prices, fight hunger and poverty. Both consortiums bring together scientists and rice growers.
25 April 2008Uganda reduces rice importation by half
New Vision (Uganda)UGANDA'S has been named a success story in Africa for developing disease-resistant upland rice varieties and giving them to farmers.
24 April 2008Experts Back New Weather Resilient Rice Variety
Business Daily (Kenya)Seed varieties that are more adaptive to the environment will help African countries to feed their populations in the face of rising food prices, experts say. The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has consequently supported the release of new rice varieties in Kenya, Uganda, Mali, Nigeria, Mozambique and Malawi.
23 April 2008Upland rice begins to boost production, reduce imports in Africa
Africa Science News ServiceThe successful development and release of stress-tolerant upland and lowland irrigated rice varieties has begun to significantly increase rice production in some African countries, including Uganda and Tanzania.
23 April 2008It's not the price that causes hunger; High cost of food
International Herald TribuneInternational prices of rice, wheat and corn have risen sharply, setting off violent urban protests in roughly a dozen countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. But is this a "world food crisis?"
23 April 2008African rice breeders move towards self-sufficiency
PANAThe Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) Wednesday announced that African rice breeders had made ''critical steps'' towards ensuring self-sufficiency and boosting African rice production, AGRA said in a statement made available to PANA here.
22 April 2008Former U.N. boss Annan warns of 'hunger disasters'
ReutersClimate change is aggravating the global food crisis and many poor countries could be facing the start of major hunger disasters, former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Tuesday.
22 April 2008East Africans to rely food aid amid rising prices
SABCThe chairperson of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, Kofi Annan, has said that African governments should focus on agriculture and come up with policies which are supportive of rural development.
21 April 2008At last, Africa is starting to see a green revolution. Let's hope it's not too late
Guardian (UK)When was the last time you were hungry? Not the pang of a missed breakfast or delayed lunch, but the gnawing obsession of a hunger that has lasted 24 hours? For me, it was 25 years ago - when, for 10 days I lived off one bowl of gruel a day for breakfast. The memory of the desperate desire for food followed by a debilitating weakness has lasted a quarter of a century. But while my experience was a lifestyle choice, for the villagers of the rural district of Katine, in Uganda, it is their everyday life.
21 April 2008The African Green Revolution (Extended version)
Scientific AmericanAfrica needs a green revolution. Food yields on the continent are roughly one metric ton of grain per hectare of cultivated land, a figure little changed from 50 years ago and roughly one third of the yields achieved in the rest of the world.
20 April 2008Annan calls for investment in agriculture to address food crisis
Agence France PresseFormer United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan Saturday told governments to invest more in agriculture to avoid future food crises, but warned that current shortages would hurt the poor.
20 April 2008State names commission to probe post-election violence
Nation (Kenya)Mr Annan, who is…the chairman of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, asked African governments to give priority to agriculture to achieve higher food production because the growth of any economy depends on agriculture.
18 April 2008Experts to help in agricultural research
Business Daily (Kenya)On Monday, eight PhD candidates graduated from this programme at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. Each scientist is expected to employ the knowledge gained in improving African food security across eastern and southern Africa.
17 April 2008Annan arrives ahead of Thursday’s swearing-in of coalition Cabinet
Nation (Kenya)Mr Annan left the country for Uganda early last month where he chaired the Alliance for a Green Revolution meeting before flying to Europe.
16 April 2008Local Agric Economist Honoured
Leadership (Nigeria)A Nigerian, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has been honoured in Norway and the U.S. for his leadership of a major global initiative to reduce poverty and achieve an African green revolution.
15 April 2008FORE: Long-term objectives are part of U.S. food-aid package
Kansas City StarThis morning I am participating in the annual International Food Aid Conference in Kansas City. This gathering represents a diverse group of farmers, shippers, trade associations, private voluntary organizations, government officials and many more — involved in translating the humanitarian concerns of the American people into aid that feeds the hungry around the world.
11 April 2008WFP Boss Sounds Alarm Over Food Crisis Amid Rising Cost of Key Goods
Nation (Kenya)Getting increased agricultural production, bringing science and technology to the African farmer. That's why I am working closely with Kofi Annan in the Africa Green Revolution whose headquarters is based here in Nairobi. This (kind of initiative) has brought great changes in Asia and Latin America. It is thus important this green evolution is coming to Africa.
10 April 2008Nigerian agricultural development expert honoured
Africa Science News ServiceA distinguished Nigerian agricultural economist, with over 20 years of experience in African agriculture was recently honored in Norway and the USA for his leadership in leading a major global initiative to reduce poverty and achieve an African Green Revolution.
9 April 2008New Drought Resistant And High Yield Crops to Come
Monitor (Uganda)Although more than 75 percent of Uganda's workforce is engaged in agriculture, low yields leading to low income among farmers and malnutrition in children remain a challenge.
8 April 2008Meeting Africa’s food security challenges
Tide Online (Nigeria)Hunger has for long been recognised as one of the many factors militating against the development of Africa. The problem of food insecurity on the continent has largely been associated with the persistent incidence of drought and desertification, poor and inconsistent policy framework, as well as armed conflicts.
27 March 2008Kofi Annan: the peacemaker and his green revolution
Scientific American Observations BlogKofi Annan—fresh from bringing peace to Kenya and as Columbia University president Lee Bollinger introduced him possibly the "true first global citizen"—spoke about the crisis facing not just that East African country but all of sub-Saharan Africa. That crisis has roots in climate change—"it acts as a threat multiplier in regions which are already fragile"—but also in decades if not centuries of poverty. Unlike much of Asia, where the Green Revolution helped raise the incomes of the rural poor, spurring development, most of Africa has seen no similar effort in recent decades and no similar rise. "The world's poorest are getting poorer." Kofi aims to change that, taking a job as head of Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) after stepping down as U.N. Secretary General.
25 March 2008Two Bean Varieties Resist Diseases
New Vision (Uganda)Two Ugandan bean varieties have been identified by plant breeders as sources of lines that are resistant to diseases. They have also been used to produce the high-yielding NABE 14 and NABE 13 varieties, which are being grown by some farmers. Two of the main diseases that limit bean yield in Uganda are root rot and a fungus called anthracnose that thrives in the cool rainy highlands. The AGRA programme aims to make the most popular bean varieties resistant to the diseases and establish a sustainable programme that provides seeds to women's groups, primary schools and community seed projects.
17 March 2008Discovering new ways to improve African crops
Accra Daily MailWACCI and AGRA welcome the inaugural class of agricultural PhD students at the University of Ghana, Legon. AGRA's partnership with the University of Ghana and the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa is envisioned to train 120 promising African plant breeders into PhD scientists over the next decade.
13 March 2008First AGRA sponsored Agricultural PhD students begin studies
Africa Science News ServiceThe first eight doctoral candidates sponsored by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) will be entering their advanced studies at the University of Ghana, Legon, hoping to discover new ways to improve crops across West Africa, officials have announced.
23 February 2008Soil degradation blamed for poverty in Africa
East African StandardLoss of soil fertility and the resultant low agricultural productivity is a major cause of poverty and hunger in Africa.
19 February 2008Dar bank and AGRA unveil $6,1m credit scheme for poor farmers
East African (Kenya)The Tanzania National Microfinance Bank (NMB) in partnership with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (Agra) has unveiled a $6.1 million farm input credit scheme to benefit poor Tanzanian farmers and improve the country’s network of rural agro-dealers.
12 February 2008Mozambique: Support for "Green Revolution"
Agencia de Informacao de MocambiqueMozambique is to receive support in the production of improved seeds and fertilizers from the Kenya-based Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
February 2008“Facilitate access to seeds”[Français]
Cultivar SeedNamanga Ngongi is the president of The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. International agricultural expert, he explains one of AGRA’s programs working to make access to inputs, including seeds, easier for growers.
25 January 2008Ghana Signs Alliance For A Green Revolution In Africa
Ghana News AgencyGovernment yesterday ratified the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa to demonstrate her commitment and support to help lift millions out of poverty and hunger through dramatic increase in productivity by small scale farmers.
25 January 2008Out of retirement, on board with Gates Foundation
Seattle TimesNamanga Ngongi was happily retired on his farm in Cameroon when the world's largest foundation came knocking.
25 January 2008$180 Million Program Aims to Revive African Farms
VOA News OnlineA new $180 million dollar program aims to breathe new life into more than four million small-scale farms in Africa. The five-year effort will restore nutrients to depleted soil.
25 January 2008Boost for Africa's depleted soils
BBCA $180m (£90m) five-year project to revive sub-Saharan Africa's depleted soils has been launched in Nairobi. The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa's (AGRA) Soil Health Program will work with 4.1 million farmers to regenerate 6.3m hectares of farmland.
20 December 2007Farming sector gets USD 4.2m boost
The Guardian (Tanzania)Tanzania has been awarded USD 4.3 million by Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) to boost its farming sector. Funds will support Tanzania Agro-dealer Strengthening Program (TASP) by building a network of 840 agro-dealers.
18 December 2007Soil infertility dogs farmers in Western Kenya
East African Standard (Kenya)Fifty year-old Mr Jackton Akalenjon has abandoned his six-acre farm in Butula division in Busia district to be a sugar cane cutter in the Mumias sugar belt. After tilling the land for more than a decade, Akalenjon concluded that it was an exercise in futility to continue farming, as harvest remained at 200kg of maize from three acres under cultivation.
8 December 2007Annan urges green revolution to alleviate hunger in Africa
Agence France PresseFormer UN chief Kofi Annan Saturday called for a "green revolution" involving alliances between African governments and farmers to alleviate hunger in the world's poorest continent.
24 November 2007Initiate Incentive Systems To Encourage The Youth Into Farming-AGRA President
Ghana News AgencyAfrican leaders have been urged to initiate incentive systems that will encourage the youth to move into agriculture and regard agriculture as a business venture and not as a way of life, whilst governments invest in the sector.
19 November 2007Dr. Ngongi Namanga Appointed AGRA President
Post Online (Cameroon)Dr. Amos Ngongi Namanga, a Cameroonian Agronomist and leader of African Farmers and World Agriculture, has been appointed president of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, AGRA.
14 November 2007African small farmers key to crop revolution
ReutersAfrica's small-scale farmers growing local crops can lead a belated "green revolution" on the world's poorest continent, the new head of a $500 million agricultural project said.
13 November 2007A green revolution: Using agriculture to fight poverty in Africa
MediaGlobal.orgWith more than one third of Africa’s population chronically malnourished and the number of people living on less than a dollar a day steadily increasing, food security and poverty continue to be concerns for a continent where millions of people suffer from food shortages.
24 October 2007Cassava breeders call for new varieties' quick release
SciDev.NetAfrica's cassava industry must improve the distribution of new disease resistant varieties of the root vegetable to farmers across the continent, say scientists.
22 October 2007Cassava Virus
Accra Mail (Ghana)A meeting of Africa's leading cassava breeders zeroed in on actions needed to stop the rapid spread of cassava brown streak disease (CBSD). The resurgent crop disease has already caused a low-grade famine in northern Mozambique, and led farmers in Zanzibar to largely abandon cultivation of the critical food crop. Breeders from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique all noted the rising threat of the disease to small-scale farmers in their areas.
17 October 2007Cassava breeders plan new breeding strategies
Uganda BusinessWith support from the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, the African cassava breeders network plans new breeding strategies to stop the rapid spread of cassava brown streak disease (CBSD).
5 October 2007Maize breeders urge govts to speed new varieties’ approvals
Africa Science News ServiceA statement released today by the eastern and southern Africa’s leading network of maize breeders, seed producers, and development specialists says that the slow regulatory approval of new, conventionally bred crop varieties is harming regional food security and impeding efforts to eradicate rural poverty.
3 October 2007Agra takes certified seeds to farmers in war on hunger
Business Daily (Kenya)Retailing of certified agricultural seeds may be headed for a transformation as a recently formed alliance to fight hunger and poverty in Africa strives to make access of the key in-put easier at the lowest retail point. As part of a strategy to radically boost agricultural productivity, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (Agra) envisages to have in place a special grassroots based delivery system in which a farmer would walk to a shop or kiosk in his rural back yard and readily access high quality certified seeds.
20 September 2007Ghana: Breeding Plant Breeders
New York TimesThe Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, led by the former United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, left, and financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates and Rockefeller Foundations, said that it was joining with the University of Ghana, Legon, to develop a center that would train African scientists to develop hardier, higher-yielding varieties of neglected crops like cassava, millet, cowpea and plantain. The Alliance, which aims to reduce hunger, is also strengthening another program at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.
19 September 2007120 phytogénéticiens africains seront formés pour une amélioration des cultures du continent
Wal Fadjri L'Aurore (Senegal)Pour enrayer l'actuelle fuite des cerveaux africains, spécialisés dans l'agronomie et l'agriculture, l’Alliance pour une révolution verte en Afrique (Agra) vient de mettre en place un vaste programme de formation universitaire destiné à 120 phytogénéticiens. L'objectif est de constituer rapidement une réserve suffisante de spécialistes et d'experts dont l'Afrique a besoin pour mettre un terme à sa crise alimentaire et améliorer les cultures.
18 September 2007Programme aims to keep African crop specialists home
ReutersScores of African scientists will be trained to develop crops for Africa's conditions under a programme launched on Wednesday which is also aimed at keeping their expertise at home. The programme, set up by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), will help crop specialists at national research institutions obtain their PhDs and stay in Africa to work.
30 August 2007Conference mulls African agriculture
Associated PressAfrica's drive to feed itself by boosting agricultural production through funding, market access and improved technology must be balanced against the risk of environmental damage and market collapse, delegates at an Oslo conference said Thursday.
17 July 2007Farmers and researchers: Annan urges stronger links
SciDev.NetFormer United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan yesterday (16 July) urged African farmers to build stronger links with scientists and research institutions as part of their efforts to boost food production on the continent. He also said that, whatever the potential future benefits of genetically modified (GM) crops, conventional seed breeding currently represented an important path towards securing a 'green revolution' in Africa, and thus of decreasing Africa's dependence on food aid.
11 July 2007Pour une révolution verte en Afrique
Le Monde (France)Il faut redynamiser les petites exploitations agricoles. C'est le moyen de sortir ce continent de la misère. Six mois à peine après la fin de mon mandat de secrétaire général de l'ONU, j'ai décidé de relever un nouveau défi : donner un nouvel élan à l'Afrique, trop souvent perçue comme assiégée par la faim et le désespoir, en redynamisant les petites exploitations agricoles dont tant de populations dépendent pour leur subsistance et leurs revenus.
14 June 2007Kofi Annan named as head of new body to boost agriculture in Africa
Associated PressFormer U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan aims to lead a "green revolution" in Africa by boosting food production on the only continent in the world blighted by falling yields and rising hunger. Africa should rely on African solutions — local labor, seeds and markets — without seeking imported biotech "magic bullets" or the promise of more open foreign markets, he said in announcing his appointment as chairman of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.