Resources

AGRA brochures and booklets

		AGRA Brochure Agriculture is at the center of life and the economies of Africa. The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) believes that the continent’s pathway to prosperity begins with investments in Africa’s most valuable assets—its farmers.
		AGRA FACES Brochure The Faces of the Green Revolution in this publication are just a few of the many farmers, scientists and entrepreneurs who are changing the landscape of African agriculture with the support of national governments, the international community and organizations like AGRA. This is what can be accomplished when smallholder farmers work with the tools of modern agriculture—robust, high-yielding seed, practical integrated soil fertility and water management practices, affordable credit and efficient markets.
		Market Access Brochure A sustainable Green Revolution in Africa depends on well-functioning markets that provide reliable outlets for farm produce, while also serving as dependable sources of affordable food. For many years, African countries have pushed for increased agricultural productivity without making an equal push for improving markets. The result: localized gluts of staple foods that drive down prices and cause farmers to abandon new technologies that seem not to add much value to their income. Thus a vicious cycle of poverty continues in many African countries and food security remains elusive.
		Policy and Partnerships Brochure While the role of improved agricultural technologies and farming practices in the transformation of African agriculture is well understood, the importance of an enabling environment and incentives in driving the adoption of these technologies has not been sufficiently recognized. Hence various policy, institutional and regulatory bottlenecks hamper the adoption of technologies by smallholder farmers and discourage investment by other value chain actors.
		Seeds Brochure Farming starts with a seed and Africa is facing a shortage of quality seeds. Poor seed combined with climate change will exacerbate the already critical food shortages in Sub Saharan Africa. Africa’s population has been growing 50% faster than gains in food productivity. Without dramatic action, Africa’s food deficit is projected to increase to 60 million tons and $14 billion by 2020. The Program for African Seed Systems (PASS) provides the higher-yielding seeds farmers need to not only avoid such a crisis but also better their own lives and those of their children.
		Soil Brochure Africa’s soils are among the most degraded in the world, and steps must be taken on a large scale to increase fertility and encourage the use of better agronomic practices. AGRA’s Soil Health Program (SHP) is meeting the continent’s soil fertility crisis head on, and bringing about a widespread application of Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) technologies by smallholder producers.

Annual Reports

		2011 Five years have passed since AGRA was formally established in late 2006 with funding from The Rockefeller and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundations. In that time, a number of others have joined in our efforts, and with our many partners we have accomplished much, as detailed in this Report. Yet the urgency of AGRA’s mission has not diminished. Today more than ever we must move forward with catalyzing an African Green Revolution, one that fits the circumstances unique to our continent.
		2010 It was a truly eventful year for AGRA and its many partners, and indeed for African agriculture. United in the belief that there has been enough talk, many governments, development organizations, and private sector partners took concrete steps in 2010 to end poverty and provide food security across the continent. As evidenced by the actions and commitments made during the September African Green Revolution Forum, our collective pace is quickening dramatically as we build on our successes, listen to farmers, innovate as we move forward, and scale up what we know works.
		2009 The past year saw a significant improvement in global food security, thanks to record grain harvests and a continued replenishment of global food stocks. Yet movement towards food security at the global level is a poor indicator of progress in different parts of the world. Sadly, in Africa hunger has never been worse. Some 300 million Africans now lack enough food each day, and food prices in most of sub-Saharan countries are higher than a year ago.
		2008 As Asia did in the 1960s and 70s, Africa needs a Green Revolution of its own. But our Green Revolution must be grounded firmly in present- day African realities, while drawing lessons from the positive and negative experiences of the past. It must recognize smallholder farmers as the key to increasing production, promote change across the entire agricultural system, and put equity and protecting the environment at its heart. Indeed, we need a uniquely African Green Revolution.