Public-Private Partnership

Public-Private Partnership is a recognized method for achieving economic development. Yara International, with a 25-year presence in Africa, is one of the private players behind a PPP for an African Green Revolution. (Photo: T.S. Knudsen)

Poverty cannot be eradicated and the Millennium Development Goals cannot be met without close collaboration between public and private sectors. Today, this is common wisdom that drives development practioners, NGO economists and UN decision-makers efforts to increase agricultural productivity and food production in Africa.

As a contribution to an African Green Revolution, and a response to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's call to action, an Africa Public-Private Partnership Platform is in the making. The initiative is co-launched by the two Norwegian public development institutions, NORAD and Norfund, and two private sector participants, multinational corporation Yara International, and corporate & investment bank Rabobank.

This Public-Private Partnership for an African Green Revolution aims to rally competence and capital around one of the most daunting development tasks today: to eradicate hunger and extreme poverty. In the longer term it aims to become a powerful engine for sustainable growth in Africa - powered by agricultural productivity, provided by empowered farmers. Public-private partnership is becoming a well-established approach to development; not least in Africa.