African Green Revolution Forum emphasises the effectiveness of agriculture in ending hunger, improving nutrition and driving economic opportunities

Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda, speaks at the 2016 African Green Revolution Forum

From 5-9 September 2016, the 2016 African Green Revolution Forum was held at the UN offices in Nairobi, Kenya under the theme: Seize the moment: Securing Africa’s rise through agricultural transformation. The gathering is a collective opportunity to highlight the best elements of Africa’s agriculture and the changes that are allowing farming families to lift themselves out of poverty by embracing farming as a business.

The African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) was established in 2010, following a three-year series of African Green Revolution Conferences held in Oslo, Norway from 2006–2008. Today, the Forum has emerged as Africa’s leading “platform of agriculture platforms” that brings together a range of critical stakeholders in the African agriculture landscape including African heads of state, ministers, farmers, private agribusiness firms, financial institutions, NGOs, civil society, scientists, as well as international development and technical partners of Africa to discuss and develop concrete plans for achieving the green revolution in Africa.

The Forum is technically and financially supported by an AGRF Partnership Group that includes: the African Union Commission, the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency, the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Rockefeller Foundation, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), IDRC, YARA International, Groupe OCP Morocco, Syngenta, the African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership, GROW AFRICA, AGCO Corporation and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). AGRA is the implementing partner for the Forum and hosts the Secretariat at its head offices in Nairobi, Kenya.

Learn more about the 2016 African Green Revolution Forum / Download the program of events

Download the Nairobi Communiqué Decisions and Commitments from the 2016 African Green Revolution Forum

A Food-Secure 2030: A Global Vision and Call to Action

Download: A Food-Secure 2030: A Global Vision and Call to Action

During the African Green Revolution Forum, “A Food-Secure 2030” was launched calling on donors to be bold and do their part to achieve a world free from acute hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. The U.S. Government has already invested more than $6.6 billion in global food security and nutrition efforts through the Feed the Future initiative.

Download A Food-Secure 2030: A Global Vision and Call to Action

In 2015 alone, Feed the Future worked with over nine million farmers and producers to boost their incomes by more than $800 million and reached nearly 18 million children under five with nutrition interventions. In several areas where Feed the Future works, childhood stunting has dropped between 12 and 32 percent and poverty has decreased between 12 and 26 percent over recent years.

The U.S. Government’s continued, bipartisan commitment to ending poverty and hunger around the world was codified in July 2016 with the enactment of the Global Food Security Act (GFSA), the largest development-related authorizing legislation passed by the U.S. Congress in a decade. Building on the momentum generated within the global community by the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the success of the World Humanitarian Summit, and the passage of the GFSA in the United States, the government declares that it is time to champion a vision of a food-secure 2030.

For donor nations like the united states and for all of us who believe passionately in development, we’ve got to make every penny count.”

U.S. President Barack Obama, July 2016

USAID Administrator Gayle Smith attended the African Green Revolution Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, where she launched a “A Food-Secure 2030,” © USAID