AGRA

June 7 2019, Accra – Nestlé Central and West Africa (CWA) and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) today launched a new joint initiative dubbed the Youth Agripreneurship Development Program (YADIS) to catalyze the sustainable development of farmer livelihoods and youth opportunities in farming and agri-food businesses in Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria.

The two and a half-year partnership which seeks to promote agricultural entrepreneurship for African youth will benefit a total of 2,000 young agripreneurs and smallholder farmers, particularly women, in the three countries with training on good agricultural practices and entrepreneurial skills to produce and supply high quality maize, soybean, rice, cassava, cocoa and coffee

In Ghana, the program will be implemented with a Ghanaian agribusiness, Sahel Grains targeting 300 young agripreneurs with specialized capacity building and mentoring, who will in turn serve another 49,500 farmers in Northern Ghana. Focused on the maize value chain, this program will increase incomes of the targeted youth agripreneurs and farmers, fifty percent of whom will be female. Project interventions include input and output aggregation; training in improved production and post-harvest management practices accompanied by services such as mechanization services and crop insurance.

In line with bringing to live its purpose of “enhancing quality of life and contributing to a healthier future”, Nestlé will provide as part of its contribution, technical support to improve grains quality and strengthen services offered to farmers in upgrading the maize supply chain. The Company will also provide a reliable premium market offtake of the maize by Sahel Grains. It has also committed to purchase 1,500 MT of Maize and 2,500 MT of Cassava from the youth agripreneurs who will deliver the acceptable quality produce.

Philomena Tan, Managing Director of Nestlé Ghana who signed the Letter of Intent (LOI) on behalf of the Company, reiterated Nestlé‘s global 2030 ambition to contribute to improving 30 million livelihoods in communities directly connected to its business activities. “Over the years, Nestlé has demonstrated its commitment to helping develop thriving resilient communities though local sourcing of raw materials such as cocoa, coffee, cereals and cassava. In 2018, over 216,000MT of raw materials worth 115 Million USD were sourced locally. This program will complement our efforts to foster robust partnerships along the maize value chain, which will contribute to improved food security and agricultural incomes, thereby enhancing rural development and livelihoods in Africa”. She said.

The program seeks to transform agriculture into a job creating sector to attract young people as the average age of farmers is above 50 years and the migration rate of the youth to the cities continues to soar.

“AGRA is looking forward to the new collaboration with Nestlé CWA” says Vanessa Adams, VP for Country Support and Delivery. “This partnership will empower a new generation of agripreneurs by building the entrepreneurial skills of the youth to profitably engage in on and off farm activities enabling them to provide last mile agricultural services to smallholder farmers in a commercially viable manner. Ultimately, the partnership will encourage, strengthen extension services, increase technology adoption, improve supply chain management and promote agricultural entrepreneurship and the use of structured markets.”

Ms. Adams added that the AGRA contribution to the initiative will be part of the Partnership for Inclusive agricultural Transformation in Africa (PIATA) with the Ghana component funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). She further added that the project will be implemented in close collaboration with Ghana’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture especially in the build up to the annual African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) that will be held in Accra, Ghana 3-6 Spetember 2019 with a focus on digitalizing agriculture.

Nestlé CWA, through its Global Youth Initiative– Nestlé needs YOUth, will provide in-kind strategic investments as well skills and knowledge transfer on agricultural knowhow particularly on crop quality and postharvest losses. AGRA will leverage its learnings across the continent to support the design of activities and the development of technical packages of best practices.

The partnership will specifically target 1,000 agripreneurs in Ghana and Nigeria who are growing maize, soybean, and cassava. The remaining 1,000 will be young farmers who are growing cocoa and/or coffee intercropping with food crops in Ghana and Ivory Coast.

The project interventions will include input and output aggregation and training in improved production and post-harvest management practices accompanied by services such as mechanization and crop insurance.

AGRA’s

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Media Contacts:

AGRA:

Waiganjo Njoroge, Interim Head of Communication at wnjoroge@agra.org or Tel. No: +254 723 857 270

About AGRA:

Established in 2006, AGRA is an African-led, Africa-based and farmer-centered institution working to put smallholder farmers at the center of the continent’s growing economy by transforming their farming from a solitary struggle to survive to a business that thrives. Working in collaboration with our partners including African governments, researchers, development partners, the private sector and civil society AGRA’s work primarily focuses on smallholder farmers – men and women who typically cultivate staple crops on two hectares or less. In the new strategy for 2017-2021, AGRA is supporting 11 African countries and 30 million smallholder farm households (150 million individuals) to increase their incomes and improve their food security. For more information, visit www.agra.org, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube

Nestlé:

Deborah Kwablah, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Manager at Deborah.Kwablah@gh.nestle.com or Tel. No: +233 20 814 3636

More Nestlé news:

www.nestle-cwa.com

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http://www.twitter.com/nestlecwar   

https://www.instagram.com/nestlecwar/

www.youtube.com/nestlecwar

https://www.linkedin.com/company/nestle-central-west-africa-region/

Econet and Yara launch “Generation Africa”, a partnership initiative bringing the dynamism of youth entrepreneurship to Africa’s agri-food sector, with its $100,000 GoGettaz entrepreneurship competition.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, May 30, 2019— Pan-African telecommunications, media and technology group, Econet (www.Econetwireless.com), and global crop nutrition leader, Yara International ASA, today launch “Generation Africa”, a partnership initiative to inspire young African entrepreneurs to join the agri-food sector for its viable business opportunities.

Generation Africa will reach thousands of young people through its “GoGettaz” competition, which will award US$100,000 in prize money to two exceptional business ventures in the agri-food sector. The partnership initiative will support a cohort of 12 budding young agri-food entrepreneurs to scale and prosper their ventures.

“Africa’s agri-food sector presents a US$ 1-trillion business opportunity [1] by 2030, especially when connected with the current technology revolution. Across Africa’s agri-food chain, innovations can be found in how we grow, harvest, process, store, transport, package, sell and consume food. Together with the pioneers of Africa’s next generation, we want to seize these opportunities. Generation Africa will help youth entrepreneurs launch, grow and mature agri-food businesses that will drive job creation, inclusive growth, and better food supply,” says Svein Tore Holsether, President and CEO of Yara.

Africa has about 600 million hectares of arable land, yet it imports food for US$35 billion a year – a figure that is estimated to rise to US$100 billion by 2025. At the same time, over 60% of young people across Africa are unemployed. Innovative entrepreneurship could retain more value on the continent, helping to counterbalance rural-urban migration, professionalize farming, generate employment and provide affordable, healthy food to Africa’s growing population.

“Africa is full of entrepreneurs. We have more entrepreneurs than any other continent. But where the average age of an entrepreneur is 19, the average age of a farmer is 60! The time is now for Africa’s entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and embrace the incredible opportunities that agri-food businesses offer. If we do not, someone else will.” says Econet’s Founder and Group Chairman Strive Masiyiwa.

Generation Africa’s vision is to strengthen the ecosystem for youth entrepreneurs in the agri-food sector across the continent, allowing them to unlock this untapped potential.

Generation Africa’s GoGettaz competition is open to young agri-food entrepreneurs aged 18-35 from across Africa. Budding ventures can be submitted to the competition via www.GenAfrica.org by 15 July 2019.  Twelve finalists will be selected by an expert jury to pitch live at the African Green Revolution Forum (www.AGRF.org) in Accra, Ghana 3-6 September 2019. Two winners (one man and one woman) will each win US$ 50,000 to grow their businesses with guidance from Generation Africa.

Beyond the “GoGettaz” competition, Generation Africa’s ambition is to inspire at least one million young people to consider the agri-food sector as a viable and profitable business opportunity. This can only be achieved through close collaboration with stakeholders across the continent to develop the entire ecosystem to support young entrepreneurs.

This is Africa’s Generation, concludes Masiyiwa, “Never has there been a more powerful moment in history – nor a more digitally-capable generation – to leapfrog Africa’s agri-food sector from a net importer of food to feeding the planet.”

About Yara:

Yara (www.Yara.com) grows knowledge to responsibly feed the world and protect the planet, to fulfil our vision of a collaborative society, a world without hunger and a planet respected. To meet these commitments, we have taken the lead in developing digital farming tools for precision farming and work closely with partners throughout the whole food value chain to develop more climate-friendly crop nutrition solutions. In addition, we are committed to working towards sustainable mineral fertilizer production. We foster an open culture of diversity and inclusion that promotes the safety and integrity of our employees, contractors, business partners, and society at large. Founded in 1905 to solve the emerging famine in Europe, Yara has a worldwide presence with about 17,000 employees and operations in over 60 countries. In 2018, Yara reported revenues of USD 12.9 billion.

About Econet:

Econet Global Limited (www.econetwireless.com) is a privately-held multinational conglomerate with operations and investments in mobile and fibre broadband telecommunications, cloud services and data storage, fintech, edutech, e-commerce, tech-enabled on-demand services and solar power to individual and enterprise customers across Africa.

Econet was founded in 1993 by Strive Masiyiwa, who first came to international prominence when he fought a five-year constitutional legal battle leading to the removal of the state monopoly in Zimbabwe’s telecommunications sector. The landmark ruling is regarded as one of the milestones in the opening up of African telecommunications to private capital.

SOURCE

Econet Group

May 08 2019, Nairobi – Thousands of smallholder farmers are set to benefit from increased access to technologies that support yield increase. This follows the signing of an agreement between the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and UPL (formerly United Phosphorus Limited).

The new deal will see the two institutions work jointly to strengthen the farming ecosystem including last-mile service delivery. This will be achieved by supporting farmers’ access to extension support through the Village Based Advisor (VBA) models and demo plots. Under the new agreement, the partners will further facilitate technology adaptation and introduction to financial solutions among smallholder farmers. Some of the countries to be covered in this partnership include Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Ivory Coast.

Commenting on the partnership, Dr. Agnes Kalibata, President AGRA said that her institution will leverage its ongoing work on policy support and building state capability; building systems for inputs delivery; and strengthening partnerships to achieve the institutions’ shared vision.

“This partnership supports our strategy to increase investment into agriculture by enhancing the development of alliances of key private sector players working along the value chain in fertilizer, ICT, Mechanization and markets. The partnership will increase farmers’ access to yield enhancing technologies to farmers and increase investments in seed production, distribution and training of farmers on good agronomic practices,” added Dr. Kalibata.

On his part, Mercel Dreyer The CEO for Africa Middle East Australia and New Zealand (AMEANZ) said his company will utilize its network of country outlets to distribute hybrids, crop protection solutions and other technologies to be tried and tested by smallholder farmers in order to increase productivity and incomes.

“We are excited to partner with AGRA in helping farmers across Africa access and benefit from yield enhancing technologies including but not limited to hybrid seeds, Fall Armyworm control, good agriculture practices, and post-harvest management to improve productivity, livelihoods, food security, incomes and well-being.” Nishant Pahuja the Managing Director UPL Kenya further said.

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For all media enquiries contact:

Waiganjo Njoroge, Interim Head of Communication, AGRA at wnjoroge@agra.org or Tel. No: +254 723 857 270

About AGRA

Established in 2006, AGRA is an African-led, Africa-based and farmer-centered institution working to put smallholder farmers at the center of the continent’s growing economy by transforming their farming from a solitary struggle to survive to a business that thrives. Working in collaboration with our partners including African governments, researchers, development partners, the private sector and civil society AGRA’s work primarily focuses on smallholder farmers – men and women who typically cultivate staple crops on two hectares or less. In the new strategy for 2017-2021, AGRA is supporting 11 African countries and 30 million smallholder farm households (150 million individuals) to increase their incomes and improve their food security.

For more information, visit www.agra.org

About UPL

UPL is among the top 5 agriculture companies in the world with a presence in 138 countries accessing 90% of the world’s food basket and is leader in global food systems, reshaping the industry with OpenAg. An open agriculture network feeding sustainable growth for all. With pre-sowing to post-harvest crop care technologies, biosolutions, innovative plant health and post-harvest hybrid platforms, UPL creates more choice, faster access, greater value and new levels of sustainability. UPL invests significantly in R+D and innovation for change, with 27 formulation labs, 48 manufacturing plants worldwide and a portfolio of 13000+ registrations. UPL’s OpenAg model unites farmers, customers of all types, food companies, our own people and societies worldwide around one powerful purpose

April 29 2019, Washington DC/Nairobi –The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has awarded Dr. Agnes Kalibata, President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), its 2019 Public Welfare Medal.

The NAS Public Welfare Medal is the Academy’s most prestigious award and is presented annually to honor extraordinary use of science for the public good. Dr. Kalibata was recognized for her work in driving Africa’s agricultural transformation through modern science and effective policy, helping to lift more than a million Rwandans out of poverty and scaling impact for millions more African farmers.

Upon receiving the award, Dr. Kalibata emphasised that agriculture has tremendous power to move massive numbers of people out of poverty and is the key to building prosperity in Africa.

“My presence here today is proof of possibilities. Possibilities whose reality on my continent is fueled by agriculture. I grew up as a refugee in Uganda and even attained my PhD while I lived in a refugee camp. Throughout this period, agriculture sustained my family and got us out of poverty. I am happy to witness my country Rwanda and a few other countries in Africa awakening to the tremendous power of agriculture to move massive numbers of people out of poverty” she said.

Since 2014, Dr. Kalibata has been the President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), an African-led organization that works with public and private partners to promote rapid, inclusive, sustainable agricultural growth and food security by giving farmers access to locally adapted and high-yielding seeds, encouraging judicious use of fertilizer, promoting policy reforms, and increasing access to structured markets to improve the livelihoods of farming households.

Prior to joining AGRA, Dr. Kalibata spent six years as Rwanda’s minister of agriculture and animal resources, implementing a science-based approach to agriculture that greatly increased efficiency and productivity and transformed Rwanda to a largely food-secure nation.  In this role, Dr. Kalibata was widely heralded as one of the most successful agriculture ministers in sub-Saharan Africa. During her tenure from 2008 to 2014, Rwanda reduced its poverty by more than 50 percent, largely through targeted agricultural programs for family farmers.

Congratulating Dr. Kalibata on her achievement, Susan Wessler, Home Secretary of the National Academy of Sciences and chair of the selection committee for the award observed that throughout her career, Dr. Kalibata has recognized that family farmers are the key to agricultural success. “She has consistently made family farmers the focus of science-based policies and interventions. Under her leadership, a remarkable agricultural transformation is underway in Africa that will benefit many generations to come.”

On his part, Marcia McNutt, President of the National Academy of Sciences said, “Dr. Kalibata has long championed science and evidence as the basis for practical agricultural policies that have transformed Rwanda to a model of prosperity and security. Her actions exemplify science as a powerful force for growth and well-being, and we are thrilled to present her with our highest award.”

As president of AGRA, Dr. Kalibata leads a team of more than 200 across 11 priority countries – one of the largest pools of agricultural scientists and specialists in Africa – working with global, regional, and national partners to drive a portfolio of investments worth more than US$500 million. AGRA’s goal is to improve the food security and incomes of 30 million farming households in the 11 countries by 2021.

According to Dr Kalibata farmers are not interested in charity or agriculture as a social program, they want a decent income from their work.

“My work in Rwanda took me into the field where I quickly learnt that all of the innovations developed by scientists, however good, would be useless—unless farmers had an incentive to adopt them. I challenge scientist to engage with policy makers and the private sector to advocate for the adoption of their innovations. Sitting in our labs and getting the work going is not enough,” says Dr. Kalibata.

AGRA is principally funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.K.’s Department for International Development, and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development through the Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa (PIATA).

Read her full acceptance speech here

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For all media enquiries:

Waiganjo Njoroge, Interim Head of Communication, AGRA at wnjoroge@agra.org or Tel. No: +254 723 857 270

About AGRA

Established in 2006, AGRA is an African-led, Africa-based and farmer-centered institution working to put smallholder farmers at the center of the continent’s growing economy by transforming their farming from a solitary struggle to survive to a business that thrives. Working in collaboration with our partners including African governments, researchers, development partners, the private sector and civil society AGRA’s work primarily focuses on smallholder farmers – men and women who typically cultivate staple crops on two hectares or less. In the new strategy for 2017-2021, AGRA is supporting 11 African countries and 30 million smallholder farm households (150 million individuals) to increase their incomes and improve their food security.

For more information, visit www.agra.org

About the NAS Public Welfare Medal

The NAS Public Welfare Medal is the Academy’s most prestigious award and is presented annually to honor extraordinary use of science for the public good. The first NAS Public Welfare Medal was presented in 1914 to George W. Goethals and William C. Gorgas for their distinguished services in connection with the building of the Panama Canal. Goethals was the chief engineer of the canal project, which was completed two years ahead of schedule. Gorgas acted as chief sanitary officer on the canal project and implemented far-reaching sanitary programs that were instrumental in permitting the construction of the Panama Canal, as they significantly prevented illness due to yellow fever and malaria.

Over the past 100 years the NAS Public Welfare Medal has continued to recognize those individuals who have worked tirelessly to promote science for the benefit of humanity. Previous recipients of the medal include Paul Farmer, Alan Alda, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill and Melinda Gates, Ismail Serageldin, Eugenie C. Scott, Neal Lane, Norman Borlaug, William T. Golden, Maxine F. Singer, C. Everett Koop, and Carl Sagan. See full list of past recipients: http://www.nasonline.org/programs/awards/public-welfare-medal.html

A Nobel-winning mathematician, an extraordinary entrepreneur, an exceptional jazz improviser and an advocate for agricultural reform in Africa among the fourteen exceptional men and women celebrated.

• Ghana announced as the host of the 2019 AGRF
• DFID, Corteva, USAID and UPL join the AGRF group of partners

Accra, Ghana, April 16, 2019 – Rapid growth in digital innovations and an inclusive agricultural transformation have been at the heart of Africa’s sustained economic growth witnessed in the past two decades. The continent’s economy grew by 35 percent between 2000 and 2014 and poverty rates are falling, with the percentage of people living on less than $1.90 a day declining from 54 percent in 1990 to 41 percent in 2013.

Now, the continent has been urged to take full advantage of the digital technologies to drive an agricultural transformation that will revolutionise life by overcoming isolation, speeding up change, creating more and decent jobs of the future, and taking success to scale with a sight at inclusion.

This call was made today at the official announcement of Ghana as this year’s host of the annual global agricultural forum, the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) to be held later in the year, 3-6 September.

Now in its 9^th edition, the AGRF is considered the world’s premier forum for African agriculture. It pulls together stakeholders in the agricultural landscape to take practical actions and share lessons that will move African agriculture forward.

Organized under the leadership of H.E. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, AGRF 2019 theme will be: “Grow Digital: Leveraging Digital Transformation to Drive Sustainable Food Systems in Africa.”

Under this theme, the Forum will look at how to harness digital technologies that have witnessed an unprecedented growth and adoption ushering in an era of disruptive innovation, knowledge economies and big agri-data. For example, mobile-based technologies have become an integral part of life in most parts of Africa with more than 44 percent of sub-Saharan Africans on mobile phone subscriptions. It is projected that there will be 634 million unique mobile subscribers across Sub-Saharan Africa by 2025, over 50 percent of the population.

Speaking at launch event in the Ghanain capital Accra, Hon. Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto Ghana’s Minister of Food and Agriculture said; “Ghana is delighted to host this year’s AGRF; the first country to host the Forum twice since we last held it here in 2010 when the Forum moved to Africa. The Forum will provide us with an opportunity to share with and learn from our peers on the use of digital technologies to accelerate agricultural growth.”

“The Government has prioritized agriculture through increased budget allocation and the development of flagship projects like the Planting for Food and Jobs that is transforming our agriculture. AGRF will be an opportunity to scale this up,” added Hon. Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto.

H.E. Lionel Zinsou, Former Prime Minister of Benin and member of the Board of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) which hosts the AGRF Secretariat said that Africa has seen unprecedented growth and adoption of digital technologies and has an opportunity to leapfrog the agricultural transformation trajectory of the past.

“Digital technologies are playing crucial role in agriculture by connecting farmers with services and information they need. This is especially critical for the youth who are digitally savvy and finding opportunities to engage in agriculture at a place of their passion. Our role is to ensure that they are supported to move these technologies to scale. This is what the AGRF will seek to do by identifying and catalyzing the enabling policies, programs, and investments to leverage digital transformation to drive sustainable food systems in Africa.”

The Forum will take stock, evaluate actions, and learn from compelling evidence across the continent, presented by many of the most inspiring leaders, including young people, turning agriculture into thriving enterprises. Farmers will demonstrate how the use of technology and better farming methods is able to transform entire communities and nations; Ghana’s and other public sector thought leaders will share experiences in delivering policies and investments to advance jobs and food security; while private sector champions and agri-preneurs will showcase their efforts in innovation and opening up scalable and sustainable market opportunities in Africa’s evolving food systems. The Forum will also look at critical climate change adaptation and resilience actions that should be taken to promote resilience in the face of climate change and other emerging threats.

Ghana was selected as the host for this year’s Forum due to its agricultural leadership on the continent by placing agricultural transformation at the centre of its economic transformation and for adopting a digitalization and pro-technology strategy. Through its Planting for Foods and Jobs (PFJ) strategy, the countr has benefitted from bumper harvest enabling it to export food such as maize, sorghum, cowpea, plantain and yam to Burkina Faso and Cote d’Ivoire. The campaign also created over, 790,000 jobs in 2018 against 745,000 in the previous year.

Media Contacts:

Ghana Ministry of Food and Agriculture

Issah Alhassan at donphlavour@yahoo.com or 0208602970/0555056700 

AGRF

Waiganjo Njoroge, Interim Head of Communication, AGRA at wnjoroge@agra.org or Tel. No: +254 723 857 270 (Nairobi).

About the AGRF

AGRF is a partnership of institutions that care about Africa’s agriculture transformation. The AGRF Partners Group is made up of a coalition of 21 leading actors in African agriculture all focused on putting farmers at the center of the continent’s growing economies. Partners currently include the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Development Bank, the African Fertilizer and Agribusiness Partnership (AFAP), the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Corteva, the Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Grow Africa, the International Development Research Center (IDRC) of Canada, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Mastercard Foundation, NEPAD Agency, OCP Group, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU), Syngenta, the UK Department for International Development (DFID), UPL, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and Yara International ASA.

Atlas AI and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) Come Together to Use Artificial Intelligence and Satellite Imagery to Measure and Predict Crop Yields

April 2, 2019

NEW YORK — Atlas AI, a Silicon Valley-based public benefit corporation founded in partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation, and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), an African-led, farmer-centered institution transforming smallholder agriculture with support from The Rockefeller Foundation and other partners, today announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) forming a unique collaboration to address food insecurity in 11 sub-Saharan African nations.

The MOU establishes an agreement between both Atlas AI and AGRA to collaborate around predictive analytics for smallholder agriculture, through applications of satellite imagery and machine learning to offer useful insights in areas of land use, yields, and peak time for harvest, input distribution gaps, and other contextual monitoring aspects.

In a continent where about 70 percent of the population depends on agriculture for their livelihoods—and smallholder farmers account for 90 percent of food production, this collaboration will utilize Atlas AI’s cutting-edge tools together with AGRA’s unique local data sets to help improve food security across sub-Saharan Africa. It will unpack the results from predictive analytics to aid government and private sector decision-makers in the face of emerging threats and shocks such as changing weather, diseases and pests. It will support regional bodies in advancing the continental and global agricultural agenda.

“At The Rockefeller Foundation, we recognize that technology has the power to improve food security that is critical for both human welfare and economic growth in Africa, and we’re optimistic that this relationship represents the future of defeating large-scale food insecurity around the world,” said Dr. Rajiv Shah, president of The Rockefeller Foundation. “I am excited that AGRA and Atlas AI will work together to drive agricultural transformation that will improve the lives of millions of smallholder farmers and the communities they serve.”

Since 2006, AGRA has worked to transform Africa’s smallholder farming from a struggle to survive to a business that thrives through efforts to develop and deliver high-yielding and locally adapted seeds, improve soil fertility, upgrade storage facilities, improve access to markets, strengthen farmers’ associations, expand access to credit for farmers and suppliers, and advocate for national policies that benefit smallholder farmers and agribusinesses.

“There have been many exciting advances in data, satellite imagery, and machine learning for agriculture over the years. Until recently, very little of this technologies has been available to African farms due to the inability of farmers and governments to pay for them,” said Dr. Agnes Kalibata, President of AGRA. “We are delighted to partner with Atlas AI and the Rockefeller Foundation in making these cutting edge advances in digital technology real and bringing them home for the millions of smallholder farmers we work with to improve their yields and lives.”

Founded in 2018 by Stanford Professors David Lobell, Stefano Ermon, and Marshall Burke, Atlas AI brings world-class AI solutions to sustainable development. The teams uses cutting-edge machine learning to help decision-makers get more impact at lower costs through better planning, management, and assessment. In February 2019, Victoria Coleman—former CTO of the Wikimedia Foundation VP and VP of Engineering at Yahoo!—joined Atlas AI as its inaugural CEO.

“Atlas AI is excited to formalize our partnership with AGRA, which represents an important milestone for us,” said Victoria Coleman, CEO of Atlas AI. “They have an impressive footprint across Africa, and we share their commitment to transform smallholder agriculture. By working together, we hope to be more effective in growing agribusinesses and agricultural markets across the continent.”

A data-driven philanthropy focused on partnering for the greatest impact, The Rockefeller Foundation has long a history of supporting innovative organizations such as Atlas AI and AGRA. This new partnership allows Atlas AI and AGRA to use technology to the benefit the millions of smallholder farmers who are unable to invest in tools and technologies that could increase yields and improve the lives of millions. The Foundation maintains a seat on both Atlas AI’s and AGRA’s Board of Directors and will continue to be an active partner focused on long-term stewardship of results-oriented, global human development outcomes.

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About The Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation advances new frontiers of science, data, policy and innovation to solve global challenges related to health, food, power and economic mobility. As a science-driven philanthropy focused on building collaborative relationships with partners and grantees, the Foundation seeks to inspire and foster large-scale human impact that promotes the well-being of humanity throughout the world by identifying and accelerating breakthrough solutions, ideas and conversations. For more information, visit www.rockefellerfoundation.org.

About AGRA

Established in 2006, AGRA is an African-led, Africa-based and farmer-centered institution working to put smallholder farmers at the center of the continent’s growing economy by transforming their farming from a solitary struggle to survive to a business that thrives. Working in collaboration with our partners—including African governments, researchers, development partners, the private sector and civil society— AGRA’s work primarily focuses on smallholder farmers – men and women who typically cultivate staple crops on two hectares or less. In the new strategy for 2017-2021, AGRA is supporting 11 African countries and 30 million smallholder farm households (150 million individuals) to increase their incomes and improve their food security. For more information, visit: www.agra.org

About Atlas AI

Atlas AI a tech start-up in Silicon Valley that tackles the scarcity of economic data and market intelligence in developing countries. The company delivers high-resolution datasets on agricultural productivity, infrastructure, markets, and economic well-being across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The core technology integrates satellite imagery with the latest advances in AI, enabling the prediction of plot-level crop yields, household wealth and consumption, and more. Unlike other satellite analytics companies, we are radically transparent: our methods are published in top-tier scientific journals, and we are open about the performance of our models. Atlas AI meets the critical intelligence needs of financial service providers, agribusinesses, governments, and other organizations operating in emerging markets. It is a public benefit corporation, founded by a team of professors at Stanford University, and established in partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation. Visit http://atlasai.co

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Rome, 15 February 2019: The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the European Union, the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), the Government of Luxembourg and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) are launching today the Agri-Business Capital (ABC) Fund to spur economic and social development in rural areas.

The purpose of this innovative impact fund, launched at IFAD’s Governing Council, is to boost investments in rural and agricultural micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) and farmers organizations as a means to create jobs for rural young people in developing countries.

Today’s generation of youth is the largest ever: there are 1.2 billion young people in the world. They are two to three times more likely than adults to be unemployed. In Africa alone, 10 to 12 million young people arrive on the job market every year. While having a global mandate, the fund will initially focus on countries from the African, Caribbean and Pacific regions.

“Today’s launch of the ABC fund is an important step for all of us. This initiative will serve a group of actors which are still too often left out but have a huge potential– small farmers, their organizations, and rural MSMEs. We are helping them have the means to be the engine of rural areas transformation,” said IFAD President Gilbert F. Houngbo.

The ABC Fund will provide funding to rural and agricultural MSMEs so that they can grow their businesses. This segment of the market struggles to access funding. The demand for loans from smallholder farmers is estimated at $200 billion in Sub-Saharan Africa, South and South-East Asia, and Latin America alone.

“Our African, Caribbean and Pacific members have great expectations of the ABC Fund. We look forward to having the Fund respond to specific needs in the three regions and supporting the implementation of our new approach to structurally transform the ACP agriculture sector,” said Patrick Ignantius Gomes, Secretary General of the ACP Secretariat, alluding to the benefits of the Fund.

The ABC Fund is based in Luxembourg and its investment portfolio will be managed by two investment companies: Bamboo Capital Partners and Injaro Investments.

The ABC Fund aims to raise €200 million euros over the next ten years.

It will provide funding, including loans, adapted to the needs of MSMEs farmers organizations and agri-preneurs. Loan size will range from €200,000 to €0.8 million in the case of direct investments and from €20,000 to €200,000 in the case of indirect investments through financial intermediaries.

IFAD and AGRA will work closely with the fund manager to identify attractive and impactful investment opportunities in promising MSMEs. About 70 percent of IFAD projects include a value chain component. The Fund will build on IFAD’s 40 years of experience in rural areas, its extensive field presence and a strong expertise of agro-businesses and smallholder agriculture. AGRA has focussed on developing private sector capacity for technology adoption and scale up in Africa and will build on this work to roll out the fund across the continent.

“In Africa, small rural agri-businesses are critical to agricultural transformation by delivering previously unavailable, inaccessible and unaffordable services to millions of smallholder farmers. AGRA is delighted to partner with IFAD, EU, and the Government of Luxembourg on this unique and game-changing fund that will provide loans of below 1 million euros which is what most agri-businesses need to grow,” said AGRA President Dr. Agnes Kalibata.

“Bamboo is proud to collaborate with IFAD on a forward looking investment strategy, focused on smallholder farmers’ productivity, market access, domestic value creation and climate resilience,” said Jean-Philippe de Schrevel, CEO, at Bamboos Capital Partners.

The European Union and the ACP have contributed 45 million euros through the EDF. Luxembourg and AGRA have committed a further 5 and 4.5 million euros respectively. This funding is expected to help de-risk investments into the fund therefore mobilizing additional resources from private sector investors.

Private sector investments to smallholder farming and off-farm activities in rural areas are needed to supplement official development assistance (ODA), and to reach the sustainable development goals, in particular to end poverty and hunger and produce food sustainably for a growing world population.

Estimates show that $180 billion will need to be invested in rural areas annually in developing countries to reach the zero hunger goal alone.

Contact:

Caroline Chaumont

Communication specialist

Tel (39) 3496620155

IFAD has invested in rural people for 40 years, empowering them to reduce poverty, increase food security, improve nutrition and strengthen resilience. Since 1978, we have provided US$20.4 billion in grants and low-interest loans to projects that have reached about 480 million people. IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency based in Rome – the UN’s food and agriculture hub.

WASHINGTON, 28 January 2019 — The National Academy of Sciences is presenting its 2019 Public Welfare Medal to agricultural scientist, policymaker, and visionary leader Agnes Kalibata “for her work to drive Africa’s agricultural transformation through modern science and effective policy, helping to lift more than a million Rwandans out of poverty and scaling impacts for millions more African farmers.” The medal is the Academy’s most prestigious award, established in 1914 and presented annually to honor extraordinary use of science for the public good.

Since 2014, Kalibata has been president of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), an African-led organization founded by former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan that works with public and private partners to promote rapid, inclusive, sustainable agricultural growth and food security by giving farmers access to locally adapted and high-yielding seeds, encouraging judicious use of fertilizer, promoting policy reforms, and increasing access to structured markets to improve the livelihoods of farming households. Prior to joining AGRA, Kalibata spent six years as Rwanda’s minister of agriculture and animal resources, implementing a science-based approach to agriculture that greatly increased efficiency and productivity and transformed Rwanda to a largely food- secure nation.

“Throughout her career, Agnes Kalibata has recognized that family farmers are the key to agricultural success, and she has consistently made them the focus of science-based policies and interventions,” said Susan Wessler, home secretary of the National Academy of Sciences and chair of the selection committee for the award. “Under her leadership, a remarkable agricultural transformation is underway in Africa that will benefit many generations to come.”

“Agnes Kalibata has long championed science and evidence as the basis for practical agricultural policies that have transformed Rwanda to a model of prosperity and security,” said Marcia McNutt, president of the National Academy of Sciences. “Her actions exemplify science as a powerful force for growth and well-being, and we are thrilled to present her with our highest award.”

As president of AGRA, Kalibata leads a staff of more than 200 across 11 priority countries — one of the largest pools of agricultural scientists and specialists in Africa – and works with global, regional, and national partners to drive a portfolio of investments worth more than US$500 million. AGRA’s goal is to improve the food security and incomes of 30 million farming households in the 11 countries by 2021; to date, more than US$360 million has been mobilized toward this effort. Principally funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.K.’s Department for International Development, and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development through the Partnership for Inclusive Agricultural Transformation in Africa, AGRA’s focus has been on strengthening systems and tools to support Africa’s agriculture, such as high-quality seeds, better soil health, access to markets and credit, and on strengthening farmer organizations, private-sector capacity, and agricultural policies.

“Dr. Kalibata’s extraordinary contributions are the result of her distinctive combination of charismatic and inspiring management and leadership, her strong scientific background and technical expertise, and her tireless dedication to the African families to whom she holds herself personally accountable,” said Robert Horsch, deputy director of agricultural research and development at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in a letter of support for Kalibata’s nomination.

She is also widely heralded as one of the most successful agriculture ministers in sub-Saharan Africa. During Kalibata’s tenure from 2008 to 2014, Rwanda reduced its poverty by more than 50 percent, largely through targeted agricultural programs for family farmers. Kalibata contributed to the growth of the nation’s agricultural sector from an annual budget of less than US$10 million to more than US$150 million annually. In addition, Rwanda became the first country to sign a compact under the African Union Commission’s flagship Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme.

Dr. Kalibata joins the ranks of other distinguished past recipients of the medal  including Paul Farmer (2018) for pioneering enduring, community-based treatment strategies that demonstrate the delivery of high-quality health care in resource-poor settings in the U.S. and other countries and Norman E. Borlaug (2002) who is widely considered the father of green revolution for his scientific achievements in developing new varieties of wheat and other grains and for his single-minded application of these in saving untold millions from starvation and death. See full list of past recipients: http://www.nasonline.org/programs/awards/public-welfare-medal.html 

Kalibata received a doctorate in entomology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 2005, and spent a decade of study and work with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture at the Kawanda Agricultural Research Institute, in collaboration with Makerere University in Uganda and the University of Massachusetts. She briefly served as deputy vice chancellor for institutional advancement at the University of Rwanda before joining AGRA at the end of 2014.

In 2018, Kalibata was presented with an honorary doctorate from the University of Liege, Belgium, for distinguished leadership. In 2012, she was awarded the Yara Prize, now the Africa Food Prize, the pre-eminent award recognizing an outstanding individual or institution that is leading the effort to change the reality of farming in Africa. She is a member of many prominent national and international boards, including for the University of Rwanda, Africa Risk Capacity, the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council, the Global Panel on Adaptation, and the Malabo Montpellier Panel of Agriculture and Food Security Experts.

The Public Welfare Medal will be presented to Agnes Kalibata on April 28 during the Academy’s 156th annual meeting. More information, including a list of past recipients, is available at www.nasonline.org/programs/awards/public-welfare-medal.html.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit institution that was established under a congressional charter signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863. It recognizes achievement in science by election to membership, and — with the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine – provides science, technology, and health policy advice to the federal government and other organizations.

Contact:
Molly Galvin, Director, Executive Communications Office of News and Public Information
202-334-2138; e-mail news@nas.edu http://www.nasonline.org/
Twitter: @theNASciences
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theNASciences

Nairobi, January 15, 2019: Nominations open today for the 2019 Africa Food Prize, an award that recognizes individuals and institutions that are leading the effort to change the reality of farming in Africa—from a struggle to survive to a business that thrives.
The US $100,000 prize celebrates Africans who are taking control of the continent’s agricultural agenda. It puts a spotlight on bold initiatives and technical innovations that can be replicated across the continent to create a new era of food security and economic opportunity for all Africans.
Agriculture is Africa’s largest economic sector, representing 15 percent of the continent’s total GDP. The industry employs about 70 percent of the continent’s population with smallholder farmers contributing up to 80 percent of the food consumed in the continent.
This is not withstanding the perennial under-utilisation of the vast resources in the continent, including over 600 million hectares of uncultivated arable land – 60 percent of the global total. A direct consequence of this under-exploitation of resources is the inability of Africa to produce enough to feed its ballooning populations leading to a constant reliance on international aid.
The Africa Food Prize recognizes the efforts of all those that are converting these challenges into opportunities to create wealth and jobs for the continent, its economy and people.
Winners are selected by the Africa Food Prize Committee, an independent body of preeminent leaders that is chaired by the former Nigerian President, H.E. Olusegun Obasanjo. The other committee members are Mr. Birama Sidibe, Dr. Eleni Z. Gabre-Madhin, Prof. Joachim von Braun, Amb. Sheila Sisulu, Prof. Sheryl Hendriks, Dr. Vera Songwe, and Dr. Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg.
“The past years’ prize winners show that the continent has strong agricultural leaders that are transforming the sector to create wealth and jobs for the youth . We are grateful to the public for helping us to identify and recognise the best among us once again through the Africa Food Prize.”
Last year, the 2018 Africa Food Prize was awarded to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) for its leadership in generating agricultural research and technologies that have improved food security, nutrition, and incomes for millions of people across Africa; and for its consistent innovation to find new solutions to the continent’s most pressing challenges of youth unemployment, climate change, and pests and diseases.
Kenyan professor Ruth Oniang’o and Malian Mme Maïmouna Sidibe Coulibaly were jointly recognized in 2017 for their exemplary efforts in driving Africa’s agriculture transformation. Prof. Oniang’o was recognized for her pioneering leadership in academia, research, and policy to improve food security and nutrition for millions in Africa; and for her groundbreaking work, with farmers’ groups and rural communities, that connects agriculture and nutrition both in research and practice.
Mrs. Coulibaly, an entrepreneur and agro industrialist from Mali, was feted for for her illustrative business success in producing, packaging, and distributing improved and high-yielding seeds that have significantly improved the food security and incomes of smallholder farmers throughout Mali and West Africa; and for her inspiring combination of world-class business practices and sound technical skills exemplifying the best of Africa’s agri-business sector.
In its inaugural year, 2016, the Africa Food Prize award was given to Nigerian Dr. Kanayo F. Nwanze, the former President of the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Dr. Nwanze was recognized for his outstanding leadership in putting Africa´s smallholder farmers at the center of the global agricultural agenda.
Deadline for nominations is Tuesday, May 14, 2019 and the winner will be announced at a high-profile award ceremony at the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) this September in Accra, Ghana.
Contacts
For media inquiries, please contact Waiganjo Njoroge, AGRA Interim Head of Communications at wnjoroge@agra.org or Tel. No: +254 723 857 270

Notes to Editors
All media materials related to the opening of the Africa Food Prize nominations can be found at www.africafoodprize.org. Follow the conversation at @AfriFoodPrize and share content using #AfricaFoodPrize.

About the Africa Food Prize
The Africa Food Prize began as the Yara Prize, and was established in 2005 by Yara International ASA in Norway to honor achievements in African agriculture. The Yara Prize recognized individuals from Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Malawi, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, and Mozambique for their success in making African farms more productive, profitable and resilient. Past winners include Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, the former Nigerian Agriculture Minister who now heads the African Development Bank (AfDB); Dr. Agnes Kalibata, the former Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources in Rwanda who now serves as AGRA’s President; and Dr. Ousmane Badiane, Africa Director for the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Moving the Yara Prize to Africa in 2016 and rechristening it the Africa Food Prize gave the award a distinctive African home, African identity and African ownership.More at africafoodprize.org.