Influencing Policy in the UK

Over the last 25 years support to farmers in Africa has declined by 60%. African Heads of State in their ‘Maputo Declaration’ pledged to lift their spending on agriculture to 10% of the national budget. However, in spite of recent rhetoric about solving the `food crisis’, there has not been any significant increase in ODA to agriculture from northern donor governments.

FARM-Africa has been at the forefront of a campaign to increase investment in smallholder farmers in Africa. In 2004 FARM-Africa, together with Imperial College and Harvest Help, published a seminal report Reaching the poor: A call to action: Investing in Smallholder Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Since then FARM-Africa has been consulted on the World Bank’s World Development Report 2008 entitled Agriculture for Development.

FARM-Africa is also a founding member of the UK Parliament’s All Party Parliamentary Group on Agriculture and Food for Development and plays an active role in its steering group in order to keep the issue at the forefront of political debate.