Africa

11 January 2024 - The food situation in the Sahel is deteriorating

Despite a growing agricultural production, the number of people in a situation of food insecurity requiring serious assistance jumped from 4 million to nearly 32 million in 5 years. [read]

2022

December 2022 - AGRA Gets Make-Up, Not Make-Over by Timothy A. Wise and Jomo Kwame Sundaram.

Despite its dismal record, the Gates Foundation-sponsored Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) announced a new five-year strategy in September after rebranding itself by dropping ‘Green Revolution’ from its name. [read]

13 August 2022 - In the media: food crisis and invasion of Ukraine: what happened to Africa?

The ghastly war in Ukraine has been presented in the media as the main cause of the global food crisis, Africa being prophesised as its prime victim. However, to this date, no boat left Ukraine to bring cereals to Subsaharan Africa. [read]

August 2022 - Opinions: Neo-Colonial Currency Enables French Exploitation by Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram.

Colonial-style currency board arrangements have enabled continuing imperialist exploitation decades after the end of formal colonial rule. Neo-colonial monetary systems persist despite modest reforms. [read]

May 2022 - Opinions: Out of Africa: Rich continent, poor people by Jomo Kwame Sundaram

The natural resources curse, capital flight, tax evasion, clientelism, “good governance” and economic liberalisation, result in the plundering of Africa. [read]

2021

April 2021- Opinion: Another False Start in Africa Sold with Green Revolution Myths by Timothy A. Wise and Jomo Kwame Sundaram

AGRA has clearly failed to improve agricultural productivity and farmers’ incomes in Africa. This failure remind us of the high opportunity costs of paths not taken. [read]

2020

10 December 2020 - Sustainable food systems: 2021 may be a turning point for food, … or it may not.

Will 2021 be the year when the private sector will take the lead in thinking the future of our food? This would certainly have very serious implications in many respects [read]

22 June 2020 - COVID-19 and food crisis: the main operating mechanisms

Reduced production and household income and higher food prices are the main causes of the food crisis created by COVID-19. [read]

10 May 2020 - The COVID-19 dilemma: Health or the economy?

The world faces the “health - economy” dilemma. In poor countries, it means choosing between saving people from the pandemic or saving them from hunger. Some elements of the debate [read].

22 April 2020 - COVID-19 and food: the economic and food crisis hits the more vulnerable - some insights

The COVID-19 crisis is beginning to seriously shake the food system throughout the world, pushing a growing number of people into food insecurity and tragedy. [read]

April 2020 - Opinion: Green Counter-Revolution in Africa? by Jomo Kwame Sundaram.

Many millions of dollars spent on fertilizers and seed subsidies in Africa have not delivered their promised outcomes. Agricultural input subsidies have benefitted agribusiness transnationals at the expense of farmers, consumers and governments. [read]

2019

18 July 2019 - Digitalisation of agriculture in Africa is bound to increase exclusion and inequality

Failing to develop renewed anti-trust regulations and stronger democratic processes to ensure a fair distribution of value added by digitalisation would imply the marginalisation of a large number of farmers [read]

13 July 2019 - Being a lobbyist : accept to accuse sustainable agriculture in order to help develop profits of firms that fund you

Mixing freely carefully selected statistical, ideological, scientific and moral arguments to illustrate their point of view in defiance of any rigour, lobbyists promote ideas - and so-called solutions - that are damaging for the future of world food. [read]

6 March 2019 - Côte d’Ivoire decides to work with chocolate majors for a more sustainable management of tropical forests: should we be concerned?

Will the chocolate multinationals put restoration of forest cover above their economic interests? What implications for cocoa producers? [read]

20 January 2019 - In the EU, gaps in the debate on migration explain policy deficiencies

What are the root causes of migration? How biased is the debate on immigration in Europe? Are European aid policies a solution or are they part of the problem? [read]

2018

18 mai 2018 - Official Development Assistance, a drop in an ocean of needs

Rich countries give around 0.31% of their gross national income and aid going to Africa weighs less than 0.4% of its GDP. But aid is not only an issue of quantity... Is development assistance really of use to solve poor countries’ problems? [read]

2017

26 June 2017 - Plundering Africa (Season 2)

A new study, that updates work conducted in 2014, shows that every year, Africa pays more to the rest of the world than it receives from it. This challenges the myth that Africa is ‘an assisted continent’. [read]

12 March 2017 - Why famines in a world of plenty?

The dramatic famines in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen are not caused by fate but the result of man-made decisions. A converging set of causes suggest that famines risk to become more frequent in the futur, despite the sufficient availability of food worldwide. [read]

17 February 2017 - After pockets, corridors,... what next?

In Africa, development corridors were to help solve the food issue. Where do we really stand? [read]

2016

20 November 2016 - Africa: can the continent end hunger and become food self-sufficient by 2025?

It seems unlikely that Africa will be able to achieve these two objectives simultaneously. However, it can end hunger, provided it mobilises adequate resources and benefits from support of its partners. [read]

17 July 2016 - AfDB’s new agricultural strategy: for a so-called “modern” agriculture that will be neither sustainable nor inclusive and will only benefit a minority

AfDB proposes to transform African agriculture in a ‘modern’ agriculture according to the model of agriculture in rich countries, even though this model has proven to be a failure. [read]

24 March 2016 - The European Union investigates on the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition

A study by O. De Schutter for the European Parliament identifies major flaws of actions undertaken by the New Alliance in Africa. [read]

2015

14 November 2015 - Valletta Summit on migration: 1.8 billion euros for Africa to stop Africa-to-Europe migration - Illusion or irresponsibility?

[read]

26 April 2015 - Plundering Africa

Every year, Africa pays more to the rest of the world than it receives from it. This challenges the myth that Africa is ‘an assisted continent’. [read]

1 April 2015 - The reasons why the Green Revolution might still not be an option for Africa

A study by two researchers points at reasons why Green Revolution technologies are not being adopted in Ghana. [read]

8 February 2015 - The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition in Africa: focus on land and seeds

A report prepared by GRAIN and AFSA provides details on actions taken by the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition of the G8 in the area of land and seeds in Africa. [read]

2014

7 June 2014 - The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition: a coup for corporate capital? by N. McKeon

Launched on eve of the G7 meeting of 4 June, the report critically analyses the history, concepts and actors of the New Alliance. [read]

12 May 2014 - The Africa Progress Panel proposes more of the same old recipes to tackle hunger and poverty in Africa

To tap Africa’s huge natural resources and feed its population and beyond, the Africa Progress Panel proposes to intensify the promotion of the fertiliser-water-pesticide intensive agriculture that has shown its limits elsewhere. [read]

9 May 2014 - Green revolution in Africa: more improved seeds for the continent

Growing Africa’s Future (AGRA) has just published a report on the seed sector in Africa which concludes that the sector is now dominated by local start-ups. [read]

13 April 2014 - Growth in Africa: high, fragile and unequal

The UN Economic Commission for Africa recently published its yearly Economic Report for 2014. Its title is ‘‘Dynamic Industrial Policy in Africa’’. [read]

22 February 2014 - An FAO report on 10 African countries shows that existing agricultural policies do not give an effective priority to the improvement of food security

Depressed producer prices, incentives to traders and processors, subsidies benefiting mostly to better-off producers, neglected agricultural research: a mix of measures that will certainly not help the poorest farmers to improve their living. [read]

11 February 2014 - Africa commits to eliminate hunger by 2025: will priority be given to a sustainable family agriculture?

Respected voices criticise land grabbing and support a sustainable technology accessible to smallholder producers. But many obstacles will have to be overcome to implement their recommendations. [read]

7 February 2014 - Negotiations on Economic Partnership Agreements between EU and ACP countries : a breakthrough unfavourable to the poorest West African countries

After a virtual deadlock of 10 years, negotiations on Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA) between the European Union (EU) and the African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States (ACP) have made a breakthrough end January. [read]

31 January 2014 - Developing agriculture in Africa, eradicating hunger and poverty: What can we expect from the African Union Summit?

Ten years after having launched NEPAD, Africa continues to place its top priority on agriculture by chosing to make 2014 the Year of Agriculture and Food Security. But there is still some ambiguity on the type of agriculture Africa is really trying to develop. [read]

11 January 2014 - Africa, the future of France?

The voluminous report of the French Senate’s working group on ‘‘the presence of France in coveted Africa’’ made public shortly before the Africa-France summit of December 2013, advocates fundamental changes in the relations between France and Africa. [read]

2013

5 October 2013 - A first analysis of the implementation of the G8’s New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition confirms worries about this initiative

[read]

8 September 2013 - Two approaches to agricultural development in Africa

[read]