Media Advisory: African faith leaders ask the Gates Foundation to pay reparations, as new research shows hunger up 58% in AGRA countries

MEDIA ADVISORY

For immediate release

African faith leaders ask the Gates Foundation to pay reparations, as new research shows hunger up 58% in AGRA countries

Online press conference | Thursday 29 October 2026 | 14:00 to 15:30 SAST

A delegation of African faith leaders from South Africa, Liberia, Kenya and Botswana will present the Open Letter: African Faith Leaders Demand Reparations from the Gates Foundation at an online press conference on 29 October. The letter is signed by 625 faith leaders from more than 20 African countries. The letter calls on the Gates Foundation to take accountability for the harm caused by 20 years of industrial agriculture funding in Africa, and to make reparations by redirecting that funding to agroecology and African-led food systems.

Since its launch in 2006, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has received well over US$1.5 billion, about two-thirds of it from the Gates Foundation.

Research published in August 2026 by Tufts University and the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) found:

• The number of undernourished people in AGRA's 13 focus countries rose 58%, from 94.6 million in 2004-06 to 149.6 million in 2022-24.
• Staple crop yields grew 1.2% a year under AGRA, slightly slower than the 1.3% a year in the 12 years before it began.
• Fertiliser use more than doubled, while millet and sorghum, both drought-tolerant crops, fell from 26% to 16% of cultivated land.
• Senegal, which was not an AGRA focus country, halved its number of undernourished people while using about half as much fertiliser per hectare as AGRA countries.

African faith leaders first asked the Foundation to stop funding Green Revolution programmes in 2020. The Foundation has not provided a meaningful response. The delegation will formally ask the Foundation to meet them before its next funding decisions for 2026 are made and to respond to the independent research that shows how their investments are not working in Africa.

Speakers

• Francesca de Gasparis, Executive Director, SAFCEI (South Africa): context and opening reflection
• Rev Dr Tolbert Thomas Jallah Jnr, Board Chair, Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (Liberia): the evidence on industrial agriculture in Africa
• Ulfat Hussein Masibo, Africa Muslims Women’s Action Network (Kenya): the impact on women, and women’s leadership in food sovereignty
• Gorata Ramokgothwane, Botswana Council of Churches (Botswana): faith advocacy at community level in Southern Africa
• Dr Hassan Omari Kinyua, Africa Faith Actors Network for Climate Justice / Muslim Council (Kenya): agriculture, climate justice and ecological vulnerability
• Gabriel Manyangadze, Food and Climate Justice Manager, SAFCEI: official reading of the letter and call to action

Date: Thursday 29 October 2026

Time:

• 14:00 to 15:30 SAST / CAT (Johannesburg, Lusaka, Harare, Lilongwe, Gaborone)
• 15:00 EAT (Nairobi, Kampala, Dar es Salaam, Addis Ababa)
• 12:00 GMT (Monrovia, Accra, Freetown, Bamako, Lomé)
• 13:00 WAT (Lagos, Cotonou, Kinshasa)
• 08:00 EDT (New York) / 05:00 PDT (Seattle)

Platform: Zoom (English only)

Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/aULogflfTguVE-hw3G08Eg

Register by: Wednesday 28 October, 12:00 SAST

Journalists will be able to put questions to the speakers at the end of the conference. All speakers are available for interviews before and after 29 October.

Read the Open Letter: https://safcei.vercel.app/uploads/gates-sign-on-letter-2025.docx-1-.pdf

Media contact
Irene Bailey, Alkemi Collective, for SAFCEI

+27 72 559 1776 | irene@alkemi.global