Who shapes agricultural transformation in Africa? exploring the case of the alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) from a think tank perspective

dc.contributor.advisorWynberg, Rachel
dc.contributor.authorVicedom, Stefan Klaus
dc.date.accessioned2023-02-23T11:23:21Z
dc.date.available2023-02-23T11:23:21Z
dc.date.issued2022
dc.date.updated2023-02-21T07:27:46Z
dc.description.abstractDue to their high level of complexity and transnational character, environmental and climate change issues increasingly require specialised knowledge and international development strategies. One institution that regularly provides decision-makers with such scientific and international policy expertise is the think tank. With their particular competencies, environmentally-related and climate change related think tanks have become key actors in modern environmental governance systems. Since many African countries have a high proportion of smallholder farmers who experience daily food insecurity and poverty, the transformation of African agriculture has been prioritised in the agenda of many think tanks, international development initiatives, and aid agencies. This applies equally to the Nairobi-based Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), which was initiated by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2006 and is often labelled as an agricultural think tank. Through its activities, AGRA aims to improve food security in African countries by establishing industrial agricultural practices which were integral elements of earlier Green Revolutions. Accordingly, AGRA widely promotes the application of hybrid seeds, synthetic fertilisers, and other technological solutions to enhance agricultural productivity. However, AGRA and its key partners have increasingly been criticised by experts who claim that AGRA's agenda does not sufficiently address the needs of African smallholder farmers and that it mainly represents political and corporate interests from the Global North. Against this background, this study explored the role of AGRA within the current agricultural transformation in Africa. To this end, the research project analysed AGRA's organisational form, the key elements of its agenda and its network of partners from a think tank perspective. The study further examined how and on what levels AGRA and its partners shape environmental governance processes inside and outside of Africa. Multiple methods were combined to enhance the validity of the findings. These included a desktop study, a network analysis, a discourse-related case study, and key informant interviews. The findings reveal that AGRA is a hybrid organisation that combines key features of a think tank with strong operational dimensions. The results also demonstrated that due to its unidimensional agenda, AGRA fails to stimulate sustainable agricultural transformation in Africa. AGRA's partnerships are characterised by a Global North bias on the decision- making level, with the alliance displaying typical features of an ideological advocacy network. The shaping of governance processes by AGRA and its partners was observed at both national and intergovernmental levels.
dc.identifier.apacitationVicedom, S. K. (2022). <i>Who shapes agricultural transformation in Africa? exploring the case of the alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) from a think tank perspective</i>. (). ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Environmental and Geographical Science. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37034en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationVicedom, Stefan Klaus. <i>"Who shapes agricultural transformation in Africa? exploring the case of the alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) from a think tank perspective."</i> ., ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, 2022. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37034en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationVicedom, S.K. 2022. Who shapes agricultural transformation in Africa? exploring the case of the alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) from a think tank perspective. . ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Environmental and Geographical Science. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37034en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Master Thesis AU - Vicedom, Stefan Klaus AB - Due to their high level of complexity and transnational character, environmental and climate change issues increasingly require specialised knowledge and international development strategies. One institution that regularly provides decision-makers with such scientific and international policy expertise is the think tank. With their particular competencies, environmentally-related and climate change related think tanks have become key actors in modern environmental governance systems. Since many African countries have a high proportion of smallholder farmers who experience daily food insecurity and poverty, the transformation of African agriculture has been prioritised in the agenda of many think tanks, international development initiatives, and aid agencies. This applies equally to the Nairobi-based Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), which was initiated by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation in 2006 and is often labelled as an agricultural think tank. Through its activities, AGRA aims to improve food security in African countries by establishing industrial agricultural practices which were integral elements of earlier Green Revolutions. Accordingly, AGRA widely promotes the application of hybrid seeds, synthetic fertilisers, and other technological solutions to enhance agricultural productivity. However, AGRA and its key partners have increasingly been criticised by experts who claim that AGRA's agenda does not sufficiently address the needs of African smallholder farmers and that it mainly represents political and corporate interests from the Global North. Against this background, this study explored the role of AGRA within the current agricultural transformation in Africa. To this end, the research project analysed AGRA's organisational form, the key elements of its agenda and its network of partners from a think tank perspective. The study further examined how and on what levels AGRA and its partners shape environmental governance processes inside and outside of Africa. Multiple methods were combined to enhance the validity of the findings. These included a desktop study, a network analysis, a discourse-related case study, and key informant interviews. The findings reveal that AGRA is a hybrid organisation that combines key features of a think tank with strong operational dimensions. The results also demonstrated that due to its unidimensional agenda, AGRA fails to stimulate sustainable agricultural transformation in Africa. AGRA's partnerships are characterised by a Global North bias on the decision- making level, with the alliance displaying typical features of an ideological advocacy network. The shaping of governance processes by AGRA and its partners was observed at both national and intergovernmental levels. DA - 2022_ DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - Environment, Society and Sustainability KW - AGRA KW - Agro-Ecology KW - Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa KW - Environmental Governance KW - Environmentally-related Think Tanks KW - Food Security KW - Gates Foundation KW - Green Revolution KW - Network Analysis KW - Philanthrocapitalism KW - Poverty Reduction KW - Rockefeller Foundation KW - Smallholder Farmers KW - Sustainable Agriculture LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PY - 2022 T1 - Who shapes agricultural transformation in Africa? exploring the case of the alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) from a think tank perspective TI - Who shapes agricultural transformation in Africa? exploring the case of the alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) from a think tank perspective UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37034 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/37034
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationVicedom SK. Who shapes agricultural transformation in Africa? exploring the case of the alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) from a think tank perspective. []. ,Faculty of Science ,Department of Environmental and Geographical Science, 2022 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37034en_ZA
dc.language.rfc3066eng
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Environmental and Geographical Science
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Science
dc.subjectEnvironment, Society and Sustainability
dc.subjectAGRA
dc.subjectAgro-Ecology
dc.subjectAlliance for a Green Revolution in Africa
dc.subjectEnvironmental Governance
dc.subjectEnvironmentally-related Think Tanks
dc.subjectFood Security
dc.subjectGates Foundation
dc.subjectGreen Revolution
dc.subjectNetwork Analysis
dc.subjectPhilanthrocapitalism
dc.subjectPoverty Reduction
dc.subjectRockefeller Foundation
dc.subjectSmallholder Farmers
dc.subjectSustainable Agriculture
dc.titleWho shapes agricultural transformation in Africa? exploring the case of the alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) from a think tank perspective
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationlevelMPhil
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