176 Organizations from 83 countries opposed to appointment
176 organizations from 83 countries have written to the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres rejecting the appointment of Agnes Kalibata, President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), as the UN Special Envoy to the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit.
In the letter seen by Kilimo News, they accuse AGRA of serving the interests of its founders instead of championing the interests of farmers. “Founded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, AGRA’s efforts have centered on capturing and diverting public resources to benefit large corporate interests. Their finance-intensive and high input agricultural model is not sustainable beyond constant subsidy, which is drawn from increasingly scarce public resources. Since 2006, AGRA has worked to open up Africa—seen as an untapped market for corporate monopolies controlling commercial seeds, genetically modified crops, fossil fuel-heavy synthetic fertilizers and polluting pesticides. This is an ill-conceived approach focused on monocultural commodity production by large agribusiness at the expense of sustainable livelihoods, human development, and poverty eradication,” says the letter.
They also accuse AGRA of promoting policies that benefit the various actors in global value chains for the export of standardized commodities. “Vast power imbalances in these global chains means multinational grain traders, silo owners, transport companies, feed manufacturers, and financial institutions extract and retain the majority of value for themselves, while farmers remain trapped in cycles of poverty and debt,” the organizations allege. They are calling for “a rapid transition from corporate-dominated industrial agriculture to family farms working in harmony with nature and maintaining diverse ecosystems”.
The organizations are also against the use of synthetic fertilizers which they say are responsible for a significant share of greenhouse gas emissions. “Nitrogen from these fertilizers is poorly absorbed by plants, and subsequently leaches into water systems and escapes into the atmosphere in the form of nitrous oxide. Long-distance transport adds carbon emissions. Family farmers, pastoralists, and Indigenous communities, who are the stewards of the land and guardians of agricultural biodiversity, are marginalized and forced off their land, replaced by pesticide-reliant monocultures,” they allege.
In place of this, they recommend the need for diversified and nutritious crops, produced in a truly sustainable manner, preserving and restoring the health and fertility of the soils, managing water efficiently, ensuring resilience to climatic shocks, and providing adequate food and income to family farmers.
They argue that since AGRA and Dr. Kalibata, sit on the board of the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC), they serve the interests of agroindustrial corporations and their shareholders, therefore, Dr. Kalibata can’t make independent decisions favorable to all stakeholders.
“Led by DR. Kalibata, the Summit will be nothing but a tool for further corporate predation on the people and natural systems. We, therefore, call on you to immediately revoke Dr. Kalibata’s appointment,” they tell the UN Secretary-General.
The organizations below are the signatories to the letter.
ACT NOW!, Papua New Guinea
Action Aid International, International
Africa Faith and Justice Network (AFJN), International
African Women’s Network for Community Management of Forests (REFACOF), Cameroon
Agroecology Research-Action Collective (ARC), International
All India Kisan Sabha, India
All India Union of Forest Working People, India
Alliance for Sustainable & Holistic Agriculture (ASHA), India
Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development (ALCADEV, INC), Philippines
ATTAC Hungary Association, Hungary
Autre Terre, Belgium
Banana Link, UK
Biowatch South Africa, South Africa
CELCOR, Papua New Guinea
Center for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, UK
Center for Development Programs in the Cordillera (CDPC), Philippines
Centre d’études et d’expérimentations économiques et sociales de l’Afrique de l’Ouest, International
Centre International de Formation en Agroécologie Nyéléni, Mali
Centro de Documentación en Derechos Humanos “Segundo Montes Mozo S.J.” (CSMM), Ecuador
Centro Interdiscilinario de Investigación y Desarrollo Alternativo, U Yich Lu’um, Mexico
Cercle pour la Défense de l’Environnement (CEDEN), Democratic Republic of Congo
CCFD-Terre Solidaire, France
Community Alliance for Global Justice/AGRA Watch, USA
Coordination Nationale des Organisations Paysannes (CNOP), Mali
CNCD-11.11.11., Belgium
Cultural Survival, International
Eat for the Earth, USA
Eco Custodian Advocates, Papua New Guinea
Entraide et Fraternité, Belgium
Environmental Monitoring Group, South Africa
Eclosio, Belgium
Ecological Solutions Foundation, Solomon Islands
Ecumenical Academy (Ekumenická akademie), Czech Republic
ETC Group, Global
Europe Third World Center, Switzerland
Fair Food Alliance Brisbane, Australia
Farmworker Association of Florida, USA
FOCO Foro Ciudadano de Participación, Argentina
Food Connect Foundation, Australia
Food Sovereignty Ghana, Ghana
Forest Peoples Programme, UK
Federation of Friends of the Earth International (76 national organizations)
Fundacion para Estudio e Investigacion de la Mujer, Argentina
Global Aktion, Denmark
Global Forest Coalition, International
GRAIN, International
Gram Bharati Samiti (GBS), India
Green Development Advocates (GDA), Cameroon
Green Scenery, Sierra Leone
Groundswell International, Global
Health of Mother Earth Foundation, Nigeria
Human Rights Defenders Network, Sierra Leone
Indian Social Action Forum (INSAF), India
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (Iowa CCI), USA
Jagrit Adivasi Dalit Sangathan, India
Jubilee Austalia, Australia
La Route du Sel et de l’Espoir, France
La Via Campesina, Denmark
Iles de Paix, Belgium
Inyanda National Land Movement, South Africa
Louvain Cooperation, Belgium
Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST), Brazil
Mindanao Interfaith Services Foundation, Inc. (MISFI), Philippines
National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE), Uganda
Network Movement for Justice and Development, Sierra Leone
Never Ending Food, Malawi
Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, USA
People’s Coalition on Food Sovereignty (PCFS), International
Plateforme Nationale des Organisations Paysannes et de Producteurs Agricoles du Bénin (PNOPPA), Benin
PLANT (Partners for the Land & Agricultural Needs of Traditional Peoples), Brazil
Popular Education & Action Centre (PEACE), India
PROSALUS, Spain
Rapad Maroc, Morocco
Regional Center for International Development Cooperation(RCIDC) International, Uganda
Rural Initiative on Participatory Agriculture Network (RIPAN), Kenya
Rural Women’s Assembly Southern Africa, South Africa
Sahara Bahuuddeshiay Sanstha Kinhi, India
Sahayak Trust, India
Send a Cow (Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia)
Social Watch, International
Solidagro, Belgium
Solidarité des Femmes Burundaises pour le Bien Être Social et le Progrès au Burundi, SFBSP, Burundi
SOS Faim Belgique, Belgium
Sierra Leone Adult Education Association (SLADEA), Sierra Leone
Southern African Faith Communities Environment Institute (SAFCEI), South Africa
Support for Women in Agriculture and Environment (SWAGEN), Uganda
Tamil Nadu organic farmers federation, India
The Oakland Institute, USA
The Trust for Community Outreach and Education, South Africa
ToxicsWatch Alliance, India
Undral Gombodorj, Democracy Education Center (DEMO), Mongolia
United for the protection of Human Rights (UPHR-SL), Sierra Leone
Washington Biotechnology Action Council, USA
World Animal Net, International
World Family, UK
Zambia Alliance for Agroecology and Biodiversity, Zambia
