AFRICA TO ISSUE OVER US $1 BILLION IN CLIMATE CHANGE BONDS

In a strategic move to leverage available capital for climate change adaptation, African states will announce the African Risk Capacity (ARC) Extreme Climate Facility (XCF), a multi-year funding mechanism that will issue climate change catastrophe bonds.

The bonds – planned to be issued in 2016 – will provide additional financing to participating countries to enhance their climate adaptation investments, in the event that weather shocks such as extreme heat, droughts, floods or cyclones increase in occurrence and intensity across the continent. 

Experts estimate Africa needs to invest between $10-20 billion annually through 2050 to prepare for a 2°C-warmer world. 

“Africa needs solutions. The XCF will offer African nations a new financing mechanism to manage climate risks by providing direct access to new private capital and by leveraging development partner contributions. We are leading the way in innovative climate finance,” said Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Chair of ARC’s Governing Board, ahead of the UN Climate Summit tomorrow in New York.

Following the announcement, ARC will work with African States and their partners towards having an effective and fair XCF design in place when nations convene in Paris next year for the UN Climate Change Conference.

Once established, the XCF will be entirely objective and data-driven, using Africa’s 30-year climatology as a baseline. Consistent meteorological information covering the entire continent is available since the start of the satellite era in the early 1980s and will be used to calculate a multi-hazard extreme climate index for each region in Africa.

The index will track increases in the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events over and above an established baseline in each climate region of the continent. Should the index exceed a pre-defined threshold, bond maturity payments will be automatically made to countries in the affected regions and used to boost adaptation efforts or scale up existing disaster risk management mechanisms.

“Climate change knows no borders. We need operational solutions that will channel climate change funds and increase direct access to climate finance. It is vital to minimize the risk to the most vulnerable.  I wish ARC every success,” said the United Nations Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Christiana Figueres.

Designed to access private capital and diversify the available funding sources, the XCF will be structured as a catastrophe bond program, whereby its financial obligations to countries over a three- to five-year financing window will be securitized, issued as cat bonds and financed by capital provided from private investors. Initial cat bonds will total several hundreds of million dollars in value therefore setting the foundation for the issuance of more than US $1 billion of African climate change bonds over a period of 30 years. At bond maturity, if the XCF index does not trigger payments during a financing window then the capital provided would be returned to investors in addition to the yield collected through the annual coupon payments.

“XCF will ensure that African countries and the international community appropriately monitor climate shocks and will be financially prepared to implement specific adaptation measures in an effective and accountable manner, leveraging ARC’s existing public-private infrastructure,” says Dr. Richard Wilcox, founding Director General of ARC. “The XCF allows us to leverage private capital against the risk of increased frequency of severe climate events, while using public money to fund immediate and certain adaptation requirements,” said Dr. Wilcox.

Participating countries will be chosen based on criteria that include their current involvement with ARC in managing weather risks through its disaster insurance company, ARC Ltd., and having robust and investment-ready climate change adaptation plans in place.

"As pioneers in promoting innovative finance solutions for climate change, The Rockefeller Foundation is proud to have been an early supporter of the African Risk Capacity.  With a smart deployment of the power of the capital markets, the XCF will be an important addition to efforts to build climate resilience across Africa,” said Dr. Judith Rodin, President of The Rockefeller Foundation.

Empowering indigenous peoples a must for sustainable rural development

The President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) called for greater support to indigenous peoples whose economic and social empowerment is a prerequisite for the kind of sustainable development that can transform struggling rural areas in developing countries.

“Today, many of the world's indigenous peoples and communities still struggle to preserve their identity, culture, land and resources – despite the real progress they have made," IFAD President Kanayo F. Nwanze said in an address during a roundtable discussion at theUnited Nations World Conference on Indigenous Peoples, a high-level plenary meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. “Too often, indigenous peoples are still neglected by development efforts or vulnerable to discrimination.”

While indigenous peoples account for just 5 per cent of the world’s population – more than 370 million people – they account for 15 per cent of those living in poverty.

The World Conference on Indigenous Peoples began today at UN headquarters in New York. Running over 22 and 23 September, the conference is made up of plenary meetings, and interactive round-table and panel discussions. The decision to hold the conference was made by UN General Assembly in 2010. Since then, indigenous peoples' organizations have successfully lobbied to expand the UN high-level plenary session to include more involvement, input and representation of indigenous peoples in the proceedings.

The World Conference will adopt a concise, action-oriented outcome document prepared on the basis of inclusive, open informal consultations with Member States and indigenous peoples.

“Unless we mainstream the rights of indigenous peoples, unless we are serious about their empowerment, unless we work with them as equal partners – then any global development agenda we conceive will be a hollow exercise, empty because it will not reach the most disadvantaged,” Nwanze said during one of the roundtable discussions. He further emphasized that to eliminate rural poverty and ensure food and nutrition security, there need to be inclusive processes and actions, and sustainable results on the ground.

Nwanze noted that IFAD has maintained a strong commitment to indigenous peoples' development through its loan-funded investment programs benefiting the poorest and most remote rural communities in Asia, Africa and Latin America. In particular, IFAD has built strong partnerships with indigenous peoples' organizations at local, national and international levels, and with the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Inter-Agency Support Group.

“As our partnership with indigenous peoples has evolved, they have gained greater control over their own development,” Nwanze added about the rewards of IFAD’s long-term commitment.

Recently, IFAD was recognized in a report on UN agencies implementing indigenous peoples’ rights that stated: “In terms of establishing institutional mechanisms for sustained dialogue with indigenous peoples, IFAD is a global pioneer.” The report was commissioned by the Philippine-based indigenous institution Tebtebba and the Chiang Mai, Thailand-based Asian Indigenous Peoples Pact.

“In the end, advancing the rights of indigenous peoples is not just a matter of justice or equality,” Nwanze said, adding that it is not “something that the member states of the United Nations owe to indigenous communities in the name of implementing our policy declarations.”

“In the end, we owe it to ourselves – to humankind – to respect indigenous peoples' rights,” Nwanze continued. “The right to the gifts of nature – clean air, water, land – and the right to freedom.”

Since IFAD's founding, it has financed a total of about US$1.8 billion in loans and some $38 million in grants for indigenous peoples.

Access to quality seed remains a great challenge for smallholder farmers across Africa

Access to quality seed remains a great challenge for smallholder farmers across Africa. This affects their agricultural productivity, income and resilience. Addressing this challenge is a complex task and cannot be done at national levels alone.

A new Africa-wide programme aims to support the development of a vibrant, market oriented and pluralistic seed sector in Africa has been launched.

Launched on 18 September in Nairobi, it will use an Integrated Seed Sector Development (ISSD) approach to address the challenges.

The ISSD approach is endorsed by the African Union Commission as contributing to the implementation of the African Seed and Biotechnology Program (ASBP) program and the seed agenda of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP).

The Comprehensive Programme on Integrated Seed Sector Development in Africa (ISSD Africa) aims to enhance reliable access of smallholder farmers to sufficient quantities of quality seed of superior varieties at the right time and at an affordable price.

The programme — supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Dutch Government — will be conducted in phases.

The Piloting Phase of ISSD Africa -running from September 2014 to August 2016, will contribute to the development of the five-year Comprehensive Programme.

During the piloting phase, ISSD Africa will work with existing seed programmes in 8-10 countries to explore how seed sectors can be integrated at local and national level. The organisers hope to draw out lessons that will inform international dialogues on seed policy.

Four priority themes have been identified:

 

·       Promoting entrepreneurship in the seed value chain

·       Access to varieties in the public domain

·       Matching global commitments with national realities

·       Supporting African Union programmes and seed sector development

 

Addressing these themes will be done through action research, innovation trajectories, policy dialogues, capacity strengthening, and joint learning in eight to ten pilot countries.

The project aims to set up an Africa-wide network of experts, seed programs and related organizations, and encourage those working in the seed sector to learn from each other and work together.

“A well-functioning seed sector is vital to food security and farmers’ livelihoods, but making it work is a complex challenge. Governments, businesses, farmers and researchers all need to work together to make Africa’s seed sector more vibrant, dynamic and resilient for many years to come,” said Marja Thijssen, ISSD Africa Coordinator based in the Netherlands.

The project will be coordinated by a consortium of an African-based secretariat working closely with the Centre of Development Innovation (CDI) of Wageningen University and Research Centre (Wageningen UR), the Royal Tropical Institute (KIT) and Future Agricultures Consortium (FAC).

The Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development — a policy research institute of the Kenyan-based Egerton University — will host the African-based Secretariat.

ISSD Africa will operate under a set of Guiding Principles on seed programs and policies. These stress the importance of pluralism, diversity and interaction between formal and informal systems.  They also focus on entrepreneurship and markets, policies to support a dynamic sector, and high-quality evidence.

Stockholm indaba discusses energy, water

 DOREEN NAWA
THE relationship between energy and water is usually not looked at as being critical to enhanced poverty reduction in communities if well managed. This is why experts from different parts of the world recently met in Stockholm, Sweden, to discuss the matter.
Global experts on energy, water and environment recently convened in Stockholm, Sweden, to look at the plausible means of bridging the gap between water and energy.
Held from August 30 to September 6 this year, the 24th annual World Water Week conference underscored the role that energy can play in improving access to clean water and help enhance food security.
The conference, held under the theme ‘Energy and water,’ mainly focused on the relationship between energy, water and food.
“How can you reduce poverty in a world without access to energy?” asked special representative to the United Nations (UN) Secretary General and Sustainable Energy for All chief executive officer Kandeh Yumkella.
“It is impossible and that is why we have been trying so hard to get global leaders to realise that energy has to be central to sustainable development. For us, this is the first step; to accept that energy is the ultimate enabler for food security, access to clean water and women empowerment,” Dr Yumkella said.
About 3,000 delegates attended the six-day gathering.
According to Dr Yumkella, water and energy are interdependent but the challenge is how to supply sustainable energy without exhausting the limited global water resources.
Whereas energy is required for pumping water, treating and transporting it, water is needed for producing almost all forms of energy.
Calling for the global community’s attention to the water and energy interdependence, Dr Yumkella noted that “as global demand for energy and water increases, we must think about the way we produce and use both [resources] to ensure shared prosperity for all citizens, protect the environment, achieve socio-economic development and secure peace and stability.”
Dr Yumkella also said energy and water challenges will be further exacerbated by the growing influence of climate change, particularly on the demand and supply chains of these natural resources.
“If business as usual continues, everyone will suffer in ‘climate hell,” he said.
Delegates to the conference from various countries around the world urged energy and water experts to work together to highlight the critical link between energy and water as it relates to socio-economic development.
Given that energy and water are interdependent, experts noted that by 2035, energy consumption will increase by 35 percent which will in turn, upsurge water consumption by 85 percent.
Representing Zambia’s Ministry of Local Government and Housing, Vernon Ngulube said those who do not have energy are the same people without access to water and sanitation, a group of citizens which experts at the conference dubbed the “bottom billion.”
“The situation is the same the world over, especially in developing countries. The poor lack both energy and water access,” Mr Ngulube said.
Of the seven billion people on earth today, reports estimate that 2.5 billion of them have unreliable or no access at all to electricity while 2.8 billion live in areas of high water stress.
The 1.3 billion who completely lack access to electricity often rely on traditional sources of energy such as coal, wood and animal waste for cooking and heating purposes, and kerosene or candles for lighting. Another 768 million people remain without access to improved sources of water.
“With the global demand for water projected to rise, there is need for closer relations between energy and water communities if we are to provide solutions for all peoples to prosper,” Torny Holmgren, the Stockholm International Water Institute executive director, said.
Summing up deliberations of the 2014 World Water Week conference, the delegates stressed the importance of a Millennium Development Goal on water, as well as the integration of energy and water in the post-2015 development agenda.
The conference also established that efficiency in the supply and use of water is one of the main tools in combatting poverty and hunger.
“To counter the challenge of the rising water demand, we must manage it in a far smarter way. It concerns our lives and our livelihoods. In five years, I want us all in our daily lives to be as aware of water efficiency as we are of energy efficiency today,” Mr Holmgren said.
Earlier, some of world’s leading water, environment and resilience specialists, called for better management of rain water as this is the only way hunger and poverty can be eradicated.
Without improved rain water management, the future development goals currently being discussed are unrealistic, according to the experts.
During the conference, several prizes were awarded to various deserving entities for excellence in water related issues.
The Stockholm Industry Water award went to eThekwini Water and Sanitation that serves the Durban metropolitan area in South Africa, for its transformative and inclusive approach to providing water and sanitation.
Canada’s Hayley Todesco received the Stockholm Junior Water Prize for inventing a method that uses sand filters to treat contaminated water and recover it for reuse.
South Africa’s John Briscoe scooped the prestigious Stockholm Water Prize, for his unparalleled contributions to global and local water management, inspired by an unwavering commitment to improving the lives of grassroots people.
Although the energy and water sectors are distinct, they are closely linked. A lot of water is, for instance, used to produce biofuel and hydropower. Energy, on the other hand, is needed for treating and transporting water.
Despite these interdependencies, there are communication challenges such that although the two sectors speak the same language, they have different interpretations.
The energy sector is global, with many international private companies while the water division is mainly run by public companies at local or municipal levels.

Pressure Africa's leaders to keep their promises-Annan tells civil society

Civil society must hold political leaders and business to account measuring their actions against their promises, Kofi Annan, Chair of the Africa Progress Panel, told a meeting in Addis Ababa on Monday, adding that malnutrition on the continent represents political failure.

In June, African Union leaders at a meeting in Malabo renewed their 2003 commitment to allocate at least 10 percent of their national budgets to agriculture.

“We are looking at our leaders. They made fresh promises and we will see where we go from here,” he told a mainly civil society meeting. Organised by the Africa Progress Panel to discuss this year’s Africa Progress Report, Grain, Fish, Money, the meeting took place on the eve of this year’s Africa Green Revolution Forum.

“The promises which count, we must remember, are those which are implemented, which are kept,” Mr Annan said.

With two thirds of Africans dependent on farming for their livelihoods, boosting Africa’s agriculture can create economic opportunities, reduce malnutrition and poverty, and generate faster, fairer growth.

African farmers need more investment, better access to financial services such as loans, and quality inputs such as seeds and fertilisers, Mr Annan told audience at an APP event to discuss this year’s Africa Progress Report, Grain, Fish, Money.

“You can just imagine the jobs that can be created if we went that route,” Mr Annan said, referring to the entire value chain from field to final consumer, including farmers, suppliers, transporters, processors, and a myriad of other operators.

“Unfortunately, the neglect of these sectors has allowed inequality on our continent to accelerate,” he said. “Malnutrition is a political failure. And as the saying goes, people who live in democracy and under democratic rule do not starve,” he said.

In addition to Mr Annan, the session’s speakers included Caroline Kende-Robb, APP Executive Director; Eleni Gabre-Madhin, Founder of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange; Michael O’Brien-Onyeka, Executive Director of Greenpeace Africa; Sipho Moyo, Executive Director of ONE Africa; and Strive Masiyiwa, Member of the Africa Progress Panel.

Mr Masiyiwa, who is also a telecoms entrepreneur and Chair of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA),  said that he saw Africa’s agriculture as a business opportunity too. The involvement of African youth, especially its entrepreneurs, will be critical to seizing this opportunity, he said.

African currently imports food worth US$35 billion each year. But African farmers should be producing the food and earning this money. The continent could – and should – be feeding itself and other regions too.

Mr Masiyiwa compared Africa’s agriculture with changes in the telecommunications sector, describing these changes as “possibly the greatest modern revolution this continent has seen”.

“Less than two decades ago, 70 percent of the African population had never heard a telephone ringing; today 70 percent have a telephone,” he said.

How can we use this inspiration to boost our food and nutrition security and the prosperity of this continent, he asked.

Hired cadres, political skirmishes: Can fire be quenched?

“THEY [political parties] all do not want to take the blame for this acute political violence taking place in the country now. But the truth is that this political violence is sponsored by leaders of various political parties in order to deal with their opponents,” says Kebby Mulenga, a Lusaka resident.
Simply put - political violence experienced in the country today is sponsored.
There are currently three different accounts of the incident, according to Mr Mulenga.
“The ruling party declares that cadres from opposition parties, the Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD) and the United Party for National Development (UPND) are the ones causing violence and at the same time the opposition keeps accusing the party in power. It is all about blaming each other instead of finding a solution,” Mr Mulenga said.
The opposition, too, denies the accusation, and pins the blame on the ruling party, the party in government.
Undeniably, Zambia traditionally enjoys a positive reputation for stability in southern Africa, while several of its neighbours have stumbled through civil wars and violent political clashes of varying degrees.
Zambia also enjoys low crimes rates – that is, until an election comes about.
The advent of political violence as a form of civil mobilisation is certainly not unique, but in Zambia, the phenomenon has become particularly acute in recent years.
This trend has resulted in deaths and scores of injuries during each election, as hordes of young, unemployed men are allegedly paid by major political parties to intimidate voters.
Veteran politician Vernon Mwaanga says political violence is slowly becoming the country’s deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA); in homes, communities and political gatherings.
“The violence in political parties is slowly filtering into the communities as evidenced by an apparent increase in physical confrontation cases as reported in the media. Some political parties have become legalised gangs or bunch of hooligans.
 “As we prepare to celebrate 50 years, it is important to take stock of political violence, which has started showing its ugly face on Zambia’s democracy. An urgent solution needs to be found among political parties. We talk about peace but it should be recognised that the peace was worked for by leaders of political parties and other players,” Dr Mwaanga said.
But just how best can Zambia deal with political violence? The answer is simple - creating jobs for the youths and ensuring Zambia Police works professionally and independently.
For Dr Mwaanga, the solution to the death of political violence lies with political leaders. He said violence “was never there on the political menu” before 1991 but that it has now become a norm in the lives of many Zambians.
“The high rate of unemployment is a major cause; the uneducated youths remain readily available for hire. We also need to give security of tenure to police officers so that they can discharge their duty professionally and fairly without fear of losing their jobs,” Dr Mwaanga said.
Political violence, until now, has largely been an alien concept in Zambia, especially after the re-introduction of multiparty democracy in 1990-1991.
As a result, the country has peacefully changed four presidents in the last 23 years when other African countries have only had one leader in that period and beyond.
Unfortunately, political violence has fast been eating into the very democratic fabric of the nation with most by-elections being bloody.
The lethal potential of Zambia’s so-called cadres has been illustrated in parliamentary by-elections that have taken place with the recent one being the Mangango.
With five more by-elections coming before the end of the year, deputy secretary-general of the ruling Patriotic Front Bridget Atanga says the solution behind political violence lies in the hands of the political party leadership.
“We are all aware that the political violence that we are experiencing each time there is a court hearing or a by-election is sponsored, so the major key people in ending this are the leaders of various political parties. There is urgent need to end the political violence, which is slowly becoming a norm in Zambia,” Ms Atanga said.
Unfortunately, the unemployed youths have been used in perpetrating this vice.
According to sources in various constituencies, the average “youth” member is actually aged between 20 and 35. They are believed to be recruited from Zambia’s large unemployed, urban, male population by the provincial chairpersons of the parties, and paid around K25 for a day of “activism”.
Cadres are usually provided with free beer and are sometimes armed with pangas (machetes). Some cadres are even known to switch parties from day to day, depending on who is hiring them.
Some leaders say that it all comes down to what kind of signals are given to party supporters – what is encouraged, tolerated, rewarded, and condemned.
Given the velocity with which violence has spread in many other neighbouring countries, observers will be keeping a close eye on Zambia to see how these trends develop as new risks and challenges emerge.
The current Zambian democracy is now 50 years old, far from being perfect or quintessential. It can, hopefully deservedly, claim a pedestal space for emulation by other African countries that have suffered more political travail than Zambia.
According to political scientist Dr Neo Simutanyi, Executive Director at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, there are three different ways to look at youth cadre violence in Zambia: as a form of political thought; as a calculated plan of direct violence; and as propaganda.

Dr Simutanyi explained how youth cadre violence is a central piece of a campaign, framing the political struggle as a kind of physical fight in which their supporters must show fearlessness, courage, and an unwillingness to bend before intimidation. In this more symbolic form, it is not actually violent acts which matter but rather the rhetoric of violence, which may explain why there are fewer fatalities than might be expected.

Another motivation of youth cadre violence is less common, but entails the use of violence to specifically target the outcome of a vote. These sorts of attacks, beatings, and harassment are a heightened risk during by-elections in faraway provinces, out of the reach of the Lusaka media and invisible to the international community.

The last form refers to the clashes between cadres, where the goal is not to inflict injury but rather to provoke a response, breaking the tolerance of police. This allows one party the opportunity to use the conflict as propaganda to paint the other party as “violent thugs”.

“The police are placed in a very tough position,” says Dr Simutanyi. “On the one hand, they must uphold their instructions from above, but on the other hand, they are tasked with maintaining security, creating uncertain boundaries of how much violence is allowed and what is considered excessive.”

Some leaders say that it all comes down to what kinds of signals are given to party supporters – what is encouraged, tolerated, rewarded, and condemned. Given the velocity with which violence has spread in many other neighbouring countries, observers will be keeping a close eye on Zambia to see how these trends develop as new risks and challenges emerge.

Twenty-fourth World Water Week underway in Stockholm

THE 24th annual World Water Week (WWW) has commenced in the city of Stockholm, Sweden, where a number of global leaders have convened to address the planet's most prominent water issues and related concerns of international development. This year, they are urging energy and water communities to work together to face some of today's primary challenges, providing clean drinking water and energy for a growing world population.

The conference officially opened on September 1 and will close on September 5, 2014.

The theme of WWW 2014 is "Energy and Water." Water and energy are interdependent in more ways than not. Energy is needed for pumping, storing, transporting, and treating water, as well as for producing almost all sorts of energy. An increase or decrease in one will immediately affect the other. Likewise, the two resources are also inseparable from sustainable development and must be tirelessly promoted in global decision-making.

Addressing the opening session of the week, Torgny Holmgren, WWW executive director and Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) organizer, said, "The challenges are immense. With the global demand for water projected to grow by 55 percent between 2000 and 2050 and electricity demand expected to increase by 50 percent in the next two decades, there is an urgent need for a closer relationship between the energy and water communities if we are to provide solutions for all peoples to prosper."

Professor John Briscoe, this year's Stockholm Water Prize laureate, spoke about water as a platform for growth -- of other sectors and society as a whole -- and said that "developing countries face big challenges. They have yet to mobilize those resources." He added that there is "no eternal solution [to the water crisis], neither here nor there. Instead, there is a cycle of challenges and responses."

In over 100 seminars, workshops and events spread throughout the week, delegates will discuss ongoing and future work and collaboration between the energy and water communities. Professor John Briscoe, a native of South Africa, will receive the Stockholm Water Prize from H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden, during a ceremony in Stockholm City Hall on Thursday, Sept. 4.

Research to Feed Africa

African governments and universities should nurture young scientists to have an impact in agriculture production and to ensure food security.

Experts at an agriculture forum noted that Africa is increasingly becoming a 25 to 35-year-old continent, hence the need to invest in and nurture youth in agriculture.

Dr. Jean Lebel, President of the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC), said there is need to build leaders for today and tomorrow and that African youth are the next generation to continue the fight.
“To feed Africa, research must work for the poor, and we should focus and invest on research that is market based,” he said.

He noted the need to ensure cutting-edge science and research that addresses the needs of small-scale farmers in Africa.

“We should not have research for the sake of research; it should be solution driven, and inclusive in order to support farmers, especially women and youth. We are also looking into new partnerships with the private sector to link products and consumers,” Lebel said.

He was speaking during a major day-long IDRC event held just prior tothe opening of the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia under the theme, ‘Beyond the Tipping Point: a new vision and strategies for inclusive and sustainable transformation’.

Lebel said building on the experience of local farmers is the right approach to take. “We need to recognize that there are untapped opportunities in small-scale farming systems where farmers have demonstrated remarkable innovation in farming their lands. Often, building on these simple, practical innovations is the best way to go,” he said.

Africa’s smallholder farmers produce the vast majority of food grown on the continent, and they are the backbone of a sector that employs more than 65% of all Africans. So when businesses, governments, researchers and farmers work together to strengthen our food production and distribution systems, they are seeking commercial success that will be shared across African society, and particularly among the poor,” said Strive Masiyiwa, Chairman of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), one of 11 co-sponsors of the AGRF.