PAFO and AGRA sign a memorandum of understanding to support smallholder farmers

Kigali, 14 April 2021: The Pan-African Farmers Organization (PAFO) and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) have signed a cooperation and partnership agreement to strengthen the capacities of African farmers’ organizations to ensure that they provide effective services to smallholder farmers, especially women and youth.

The agreement will see AGRA supporting Farmers’ Organizations to drive policy advocacy around common areas of interest. This includes bringing together continental, regional and national level issues connected to goals outlined in the Africa Agriculture Transformation Scorecard (1) and the Malabo Declaration (2) to advocate for specific policy and other investments required to drive inclusive agricultural transformation in Africa.

Furthermore, the partnership will support programs that ensure that women and young farmers have access to productive resources and structured markets, and address gender and socio-cultural norms. 

This agreement was signed during a ceremony on 8 April at the PAFO headquarters in Kigali (Rwanda), by Ms. Elizabeth Nsimadala, President of PAFO and Dr. Agnes Kalibata, President of AGRA.

Thanks to this partnership, PAFO and AGRA have a framework of cooperation capable of facilitating collaboration between the two organizations, on a non-exclusive basis in areas of mutual interest.

Mrs. Elizabeth Nsimadala, PAFO president stated “This partnership comes when PAFO is launching its new strategic plan for 2021/2025.  We view this partnership as a strong one which will allow PAFO to implement its new strategy for the next five years. But she added “We must focus on achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals”. She continued by saying: “It is the right time to build an ecosystem where different players in the agriculture sector need to move together because our aim in general is to empower our farmers economically, to make sure we end hunger, poverty, to create gender equality and to work around food transformation.”

Dr. Kalibata noted “I applaud the new partnership between AGRA and PAFO that brings the two institutions together to support smallholder farmers and other producers and help contribute to building back better across the continent in the wake of COVID-19. The partnership marks a major step forward towards building an inclusive, more resilient, and sustainable food system for African smallholder farmers, especially women and youth.”