The Institute for Policy Studies, Foreign Policy In Focus, and The American Friends Service Committee present a discussion with Mamadou Goïta.

Mamadou Goïta, an internationally renowned economist and social activist, will address the impact of recent price hikes in food staples on communities that are already at the brink, in Mali and elsewhere in Africa. The discussion will cover the growing presence of US corporations in African food systems and the impact of the so called “Green Revolution” in Africa. Mamadou will also address the broader context of increased economic pressures that are forcing African farmers and workers to leave their homes in search of opportunities in Europe, the Middle East, and the United States.

Mamadou Goïta is the executive director of the Institute for Research and the Promotion of Alternatives in Development (IPAR) in Mali, West Africa. Mamadou is a core member of the World Social Forum Coordinating Body. He coordinated the 2006 World Social Forum and t he 2007 World Food Sovereignty Forum. Mamadou teaches at the University of Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), at the “Applied Economic National School” Dakar (Senegal) and CESAG (African Management Centre), Dakar, Senegal.

Mamadou is visiting the US as part of the American Friends Service Committee’s Africa Peace & Justice Tour.