In what ways does the Alliance for a Green Revolution for Africa (AGRA) incorporate the goals of the globalization project? Is the shift from ‘old’ to ‘new’ green revolution similar to the World Bank’s shift towards ‘development with a human face’? Explain.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The AGRA incorporates the the goals of the globalization project to the extent that it adopts western-designed innovations such as value chain agriculture framework (farmers integrated into supply chains organized by global firms and investors), with its emphasis is on intensifying agri-inputs (seed, fertilizers, agrochemicals, mechanization). For Africa in particular, the justification is that old traditional ways just aren’t able to address these new challenges, from globalization advocate's perspectives. Thus, the premium is now on “improving” the land, with external inputs to raise productivity of commercial, monocultural crops.
To realize these goals, at the World Food Security Summit in Rome (2008), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricul-tural Development (IFAD), and the World Food Programme (WFP) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Alliance for a Green Revolu-tion in Africa (AGRA) to convert Africa’s breadbasket regions into a source of food supplies for the continent. The intent is to use imported fertilizers and purchased (some biotech-fortified) seeds to boost agricultural production. Such a shift from old to new is similar to development with a human face since it does not necessarily advance overall development, but rather complicates the process through introduction of new mechanisms that will allow further exploitation and extraction of Africa's resources, to the detriment of poor farmers.