• Developing appropriate technology: Africa and China

Developing appropriate technology: Africa and China

When the G8 meets in June 2008 in Germany they are expected to announce a new research agenda that will again propose scientific solutions to Africa’s social problems. This communiqué outlines what science and technology policies and new initiative are being proposed by major actors. The authors warn that, despite assertions to the contrary, there is a real danger that Green Revolution 2.0 will turn into a corporate biotech boom and the destruction of rural resiliency – and diversity – in Africa.

The authors highlight and critique five new "Green Revolution initiatives":

• Gates/Rockefeller's Alliance for a Green Revolution for Africa (AGRA)
• G8 – “echo-logical” agriculture
• Syngenta support for a new "GE greenhouse"
• Google's role
• Millennium villages

The paper also discusses five key issues surrounding the new Green Revolution initiatives:

• Who sets the tune?
• Who gets the silver bullet?
• Whose priorities?
• Where are the brains? (Who’s in charge of Green Revolution 2.0?
• Where are the farmers?

The authors conclude by suggesting what’s likely to happen if concerned people don’t act quickly, and make the following recommendation for steps forward:

• any road map for food sovereignty in Africa should come from African people, particularly small farmers, pastoralists, artisanal fisherfolk and their organisations - an important starting place is the work of the Nyeleni Forum for Food Sovereignty
• the G8 should drop their plan to build big-box centers of excellence and roll the money they would have spent on bricks and mortar into a coherent multilateral initiative to support farmer-led food sovereignty - the BECA white elephant in Nairobi should be cancelled and the remaining funds should be reallocated to farmer-led food sovereignty in the region
• CGIAR’s work around the world – and especially in Africa – should be subjected to a new farmer-led external review willing to give serious consideration to alternative strategies that would ensure that funds that might be allocated to the CGIAR’s $513 million annual budget (2007 estimate) are still available for agriculture
• FAO and the Convention on Biological Diversity should create an open forum to discuss these various initiatives with farmers’ organisations in Africa
• FAO and the CBD should launch a special initiative looking at agricultural biodiversity in the context of climate change.

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