Gates Foundation faces criticism over AGRA's impact on hunger in Africa

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is facing criticism over its agricultural initiative, AGRA, which has failed to deliver on promises to reduce hunger and build resilient food systems in Africa. UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, Sofía Monsalve Suárez, has backed African faith leaders' demand for reparations, citing research that found 55 million more people are going hungry in AGRA's 13 focus countries. Suárez emphasized the need for accountability from powerful actors like private foundations.

The faith leaders, who have written to the Gates Foundation, are calling for an end to funding for AGRA, formerly the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, and reparations to affected smallholder farming communities. They also want the foundation to redirect investment towards African-led agroecology. The initiative, established by the Gates and Rockefeller foundations in 2006, has received over $1.5 billion, with about two-thirds coming from the Gates Foundation.

Research by Tufts University found that the number of undernourished people in AGRA's 13 focus countries increased by 58% between 2006 and 2024, from about 95 million to 150 million. Staple crop yields grew by an average of 1.2% a year after AGRA's launch, slightly below the 1.3% annual growth recorded in the preceding 12 years. Maize yields rose by about 40%, short of the target of doubling yields.

The research also found that production growth came substantially from expanding cultivated land rather than improving yields. Maize production increased by 139%, with 71% of that growth coming from expanding the area planted. Total cropland across the 13 countries increased by 46%. Traditional crops, such as millet and sorghum, lost ground, with their combined share of cropland falling from 25% to 17%.

African faith leaders and critics argue that the Green Revolution approach has failed to deliver on its promises, with 55 million more people going hungry in AGRA's focus countries today than when it began. They are calling for a shift towards community-governed agroecology and soil restoration, rather than corporate input supply chains. Tolbert Thomas Jallah Jnr, board chair of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, emphasized the need for reparations to address biodiversity loss, damage to soil health, and erosion of farmer-managed seed systems.

In response to the criticism, the Gates Foundation acknowledged that hunger across Africa remained unacceptably high and that gains in agricultural productivity had not translated into the food security and farmer incomes needed. The foundation's director of economic opportunity for Africa, Enock Chikava, wrote that the foundation shared responsibility for the failure and was willing to change course, listening to farmers, governments, civil society, and critics.

The Gates Foundation has agreed to meet with the regional delegation of faith leaders, who are demanding reparations and a shift in investment towards African-led agroecology. The delegation includes faith leaders from Liberia, Kenya, Botswana, Namibia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. The meeting is seen as a crucial step towards addressing the concerns of African faith leaders and communities affected by AGRA's interventions.

Key points

• The Gates Foundation's agricultural initiative, AGRA, has failed to reduce hunger in Africa, with 55 million more people going hungry in its 13 focus countries.
• African faith leaders are demanding reparations and a shift in investment towards African-led agroecology.
• The Gates Foundation has acknowledged its share of responsibility for the failure and is willing to change course, listening to critics and stakeholders.