New Alliance for a Green Revolution established

Two US charities have launched a new alliance to help increase food productivity and fight poverty in Africa. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has teamed up with the Rockefeller Foundation, investing an initial USD 150 million in an African Green Revolution.

The alliance was announced on September 12, and has been hailed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, who in 2004 challenged the world to foster a genuine African Green Revolution. In a comment Mr. Annan expressed the hope that others will also come forward to help countries on the continent fight poverty, hunger and disease.

The New Alliance

The Alliance for a Green Revolution will invest USD 150 million over a period of five years, supporting various activities in around 20 African countries. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated 100 million, the Rockefeller Foundation 50 million. “We’ve been looking into the causes of extreme poverty and how we might make a contribution to reducing that,” Gates said on the launch of the new alliance. Previously the foundation was best known for its funding of projects within the health sector. The effort to boost agricultural productivity and fight poverty is the result of realizing that health improvements are easily lost if there is not enough food or income available.

In its document, “Africa’s Turn. A New Green Revolution for the 21^st Century”, the Rockefeller Foundation outlines the challenge in brief:

The vision of a new Green Revolution is a single challenge in several layers. The most fundamental level is improved seed varieties, combined with the development of new generations of trained African agricultural scientists. A second tier involves better inputs and practices, including the use of fertilizers and other soil and water management techniques. Next up the ladder is the development of stronger off-farm systems and markets, from storage to transportation to processing and final sale.

The report states: “Africa’s version of a Green Revolution may not be as immediate and sweeping as the earlier one, but it could be just as profound, with consequences every bit as life-saving.”

The Rockefeller Footprints

The Rockefeller Foundation has a long history of promoting agricultural productivity – and funding green revolution. Indeed, it was with Rockefeller funding that Dr. Norman Borlaug, the “father” of the Green Revolution, did his revolutionary research in the 1950s, introducing new crop varieties – launching the Green Revolution – in Asia and Latin America. Now, The Rockefeller Foundation intends to bring the Green Revolution to sub-Saharan Africa as well.

 “We expect it to dramatically increase the productivity of small farms, moving tens of millions of people out of extreme poverty and significantly reducing hunger,” said Dr. Judith Rodin, President of the foundation, when launching the alliance with The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. “Now,” she said, “it’s Africa’s turn”.

The Philanthropic Revolution

The Alliance for a Green Revolution, Dr. Rodin proclaimed, is a strategic act of philanthropy. Another philanthropist, the billionaire financier George Soros, has dedicated USD 50 million to the Millennium Village program in Africa, designed as part of the UN Millennium Project. This pledge is matched by other donors, bringing the project USD 100 million in fresh capital.

Commenting on the donation from Mr. Soros, Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Millennium Project, said, “He just empowered us to do something that is incredibly important.” “The real payoff would be if it sets an example that can be replicated on a much larger scale,” Mr. Soros told the Associated Press.

The Millennium Villages seek to end extreme poverty by working with the poorest of the poor, village by village throughout Africa, providing affordable and science-based solutions to help people lift themselves out of extreme poverty. The village project covers 12 sites in 10 African countries, a total of 78 villages – each averaging about 5,000 people.

Another key supporter is Yara International, who was the first private enterprise to make a financial commitment linked to the Millennium Villages project. As part of Yara’s centennial in 2005, the company and its employees joined forces to support the Sauri Millennium Village in Kenya and Mwandama site in Malawi. The Millennium Village Project is running grassroots level activities, and Yara’s financial contribution is paying for practical interventions like seed and fertilizer at subsidised prices and free lunch for all school children.

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