rich appetites
A short film series on How Big Philanthropy is shaping the future of food in africa
Watch the Trailer
Billionaire philanthropists are pushing US-style industrial agriculture around the globe—including in Africa. Industrial agriculture is the single largest cause of biodiversity loss worldwide, fails to solve hunger, and hurts small-scale farmers and the planet. Learn more in this short film series.
film 1: The Foundation
Summary
Industrial agriculture has failed to solve hunger, decimated rural communities, and had severe ecological consequences. So why is this model being exported to Africa and promoted in international policy circles?
film 2: Seeds
SUMMARY
While AGRA has failed to reduce hunger as promised, it has been very successful for corporations, the private sector, and the wealthy, by creating new opportunities to profit off of African agriculture—especially seeds. The Gates Foundation and AGRA have funded organizations that push African governments to pass restrictive laws that commercialize and privatize seeds, thereby threatening the cultural basis of seed exchanges and creating markets for corporate seed.
Film 3: Money
Annotated script with links to sources here (English)
Companion Guide: Gates Foundation Donations are not Charity here (English)
Watch the full interviews with Daniel Maingi (Growth Partners Africa & Kenya Food Rights Alliance) and Mariam Mayet (African Centre for Biodiversity)
Summary
The Gates Foundation has spent billions remaking African agriculture as a business ripe for new investments, all while cultivating Bill Gates’ global image as a “do-gooder” –– even though his actions are harming African farmers and the planet.
Film 4: Science
Annotated script with links to sources here (English)
Companion Guide: Agroecology and Science here (English)
Watch the full interview with Mamadou Goïta (IRPAD)
Summary
Scientific studies increasingly demonstrate that agroecology increases incomes, food security, and productivity, while restoring environments and building climate resilience. Yet large funding institutions like the Gates Foundation are backing industrial, tech-focused approaches that benefit corporations, rather than supporting farmer-led and evidence-based solutions.
Film 5: AGROECOLOGY IN ACTION
Companion Guide: What is Agroecology? here
SUMMARY
Through in-depth interviews and footage from the field, this episode tells the stories of people and organizations around the world who are using agroecology to fight climate change and feed their communities.
SYNOPSIS
At a time when global hunger is on the rise and the pandemic has dramatically impacted global food systems, corporations are gaining even more control over agriculture than ever. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), the largest private charitable foundation in the world, is leading the way in pushing global agricultural development priorities toward industrial and chemical-intensive models--including in Africa, through their investments in the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
This video series, developed by AGRA Watch and the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, explains why exporting the US agribusiness model to Africa is a grave mistake.
“This fantastic series shows how agroecology can ensure that our food systems flourish and are more just.”
— Michael Fakhri, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food
“If you're wondering how to explain that colonialism is still happening, that it's being driven by the most benign sounding charities and foundations, and that it's being actively fought, This captivating series breaks down who's doing what, why it's wrong, what movements are doing to resist, and how you can help.”
— Raj Patel, author of Stuffed and Starved and co-director of The Ants and the Grasshopper
“In this brilliant new short film series, you’ll discover the truths behind the myths and how to take on the powerful forces that continue to shape our understanding of food, hunger, and what we can do about it. I loved watching these creative and powerful videos… and hope you will, too.”
— Anna Lappé, author of Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do About It, co-founder of Real Food Media, and Director of the Food Sovereignty Fund of the Panta Rhea Foundation
dig deeper
Movements of food producers and civil society groups across the world are fighting back against the industrialized takeover of agriculture in Africa. Groups like the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), representing some 200 million small-scale food producers, are organizing and advocating for more sustainable, equitable solutions that benefit Africans.
Want to learn more about this global movement to transform food systems?
Hear directly from small scale farmers and Africans
“Food Sovereignty, a Manifesto for the Future of Our Planet” by La Via Campesina, the global movement that first championed food sovereignty as a collective right
Southern African Faith Communities’ Environment Institute’s open letter to the Gates Foundation, endorsed by nearly 500 African faith leaders, asking them to halt their support to the expansion of industrial agriculture across Africa
AFSA’s open letter calling on donors to stop funding AGRA, published in September 2021 and signed by 200 organizations
Dig deeper into the money trail
“US Groups Invest Billions in Industrial Ag in Africa. Experts Say It’s not Ending Hunger or Helping Farmers”, by Lisa Held for Civil Eats
“Rogue Capitalism and the Financialization of Territories and Nature” by the International Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty
“How the Gates Foundation is driving the food system in the wrong direction” by GRAIN, an international nonprofit supporting small-scale farmers and social movements
Learn about agroecology, an alternative and sustainable path toward food sovereignty
Overview of agroecology by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
“Time to change course: The future is in agroecology” by Josephine Atangana and Bridget Mugambe in African Arguments
“The Politics of Knowledge: Will we act on the evidence for agroecology, regenerative approaches, and Indigenous foodways?” from The Global Alliance for the Future of Food
About us
CAGJ/AGRA Watch members celebrate with Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa at 2018 African Food Systems Summit, Senegal
AGRA Watch
is a campaign of Community Alliance for Global Justice (CAGJ) that is dedicated to challenging the dominant development ideology pushed by governments, corporations, and “private” philanthropic actors as they try to expand our corporate-driven, industrial model of agriculture into Africa. Chief among these “private” actors are the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and their subsidiary, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). CAGJ/AGRA Watch is a member of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa.
Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA)
is a broad alliance of different civil society actors that are part of the struggle for food sovereignty and agroecology in Africa. These include: African farmers’ organizations, African NGO networks, specialist African NGOs, consumer movements in Africa, international organizations which support the stance of AFSA, and individuals. Its members represent smallholder farmers, pastoralists, hunter/gatherers, indigenous peoples; faith based institutions, and environmentalists from across Africa.