Chaired by Kofi Annan, chair of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), this is the first time the forum will be held in Africa. It is expected to be one of the continent’s major gatherings of both public and private players to focus solely on agriculture development.

 “We will be looking to governments for leadership to create an environment that will enable agriculture to prosper and grow and we will be looking to the private sector to drive and sustain that growth,” says Kofi Annan.  “Working together we can achieve a food secure and prosperous Africa.”
 
The AGRF promotes investments and policy initiatives that will drive income growth for African farmers in an environmentally sustainable way. The AGRF will also show progress in unlocking Africa’s agricultural potential and facilitating sustainable economic growth thanks to new investment and public-private partnerships.
 
“As Secretary General of the United Nations, I called for a uniquely green revolution in Africa to meet the Millennium Development Goal of halving hunger by 2015. And six years later, I am encouraged to see that the Green Revolution has taken hold and is gaining momentum. We have reached global consensus that agriculture is Africa’s lifeline and, from that realization, we are gaining global support and funding commitments as well as the support of African governments and the attention of the private sector. But we need an action plan to translate this momentum into tangible support for Africa’s famers,” said Mr. Annan.

 To substantially increase food production in Africa requires a comprehensive and integrated approach to improve the productivity, profitability and sustainability of smallholder farmers. The new expansion must take into account its effect on climate change – the warming planet is expected to reduce yields by 20-30 percent by 2050 if left unchecked.