Q: What is the foundation's approach to agricultural development?
A: Our Agricultural Development initiative is working with a wide range of partners to provide millions of farmers in the developing world with tools and opportunities to boost productivity and income and build better lives for themselves and their families. We focus on small farmers—most of whom are women—and are committed to listening so that our work helps meet their needs. We’re also focused on sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where the need is greatest.
We recognize it is of little use if a farmer, through access to better seeds or more fertile soil or irrigation, boosts production but doesn’t have a market to sell the surplus. That’s we take a comprehensive approach—from seeds and soil to farm management and market access. We also support data collection, research, and policy analysis that can help improve agricultural development. We believe this is the only way to get long-term, sustainable results.
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Q: How does improving agriculture help create opportunities and reduce poverty?
A: Agricultural productivity directly impacts the income and livelihood of the world's poorest people: Three-quarters of all people living in extreme poverty reside in rural areas, and most rely on agriculture for food and income.
Apart from a few states and small, oil-rich countries, no country has managed a rapid rise from poverty without increasing agricultural productivity. In the poorest countries, agriculture employs a majority of the people.
Reducing hunger and poverty on a large scale begins with these small farmers. Farmers who can grow enough to feed their families, have a surplus, and get that surplus to market will have the chance to increase their incomes and improve their quality of life.
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Q: What does success look like?
A: Together with partners, we expect to be a catalyst that helps hundreds of millions of people overcome hunger and poverty within the next few decades. If these efforts are successful, small farmers will have access to quality seeds for nutritious, high-value crops; effective and affordable irrigation; and the appropriate fertilizers and other inputs to make their soil healthy. They'll also have access to information that helps them manage their land and labor to full potential and best market their surplus crops. Women will be empowered to participate more fully in—and realize the benefits of—advances in agricultural development.
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Q: What is AGRA?
A: The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) is an Africa-based and African-led effort to develop a thriving agricultural sector in sub-Saharan Africa. AGRA was formed, with initial support from the Gates and Rockefeller Foundations, in response to calls from African leaders to revitalize agriculture on the continent. It is chaired by Kofi Annan, the former U.N. secretary-general, and headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya.
AGRA is bringing together partners from government, business, and civil society to focus on a range of issues, increasing the availability of quality, locally relevant seeds; improving the health of Africa’s depleted soils; and expanding access for small farmers to credit and markets. AGRA is focused on small farmers and economic and environmental sustainability.
Visit the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa web site.
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Q: What did you learn from the Green Revolution?
A:
We’ve learned a lot from the original Green Revolution, and in the decades since it occurred.
First, we’ve learned that progress on a large scale is possible. The original Green Revolution doubled the amount of food produced, saved hundreds of millions of lives from famine, and laid the groundwork for broader development in many countries. But we’ve also learned several lessons we believe will enable an African Green Revolution to deliver the benefits of the original Green Revolution, without the adverse side effects.
During the original Green Revolution, overuse of fertilizer led to unanticipated environmental consequences. Today, we consider potential environmental impacts in all our grantmaking, and are committed to a sustainable model of agriculture that takes into account the needs of both farmers and the environment. So while Africa’s severely depleted soils require fertilizer, we promote judicious and efficient use of fertilizer and more intensive use of organic matter. We also invest in efforts to improve soil- and water conservation techniques.
Another unanticipated consequence of the original Green Revolution was increased inequity in some areas. Our work is focused on providing small farmers living in extreme poverty—most of whom are women—with tools and opportunities to lift themselves out of hunger and poverty. We and our grantees work to involve small farmers in the design and evaluation of our projects, to ensure our work meets their needs and addresses the realities they face in their local areas.
Another difference is that the original Green Revolution focused primarily on raising the yields of two staple crops: rice and wheat. Africa’s diverse agro-ecological zones and varied conditions will require a much greater range of approaches, from boosting productivity in a wider range of crops, including millet, sorghum, and cassava, to developing crops that are resistant to drought, disease, and pests. We are working to carefully understand the different needs of small farmers throughout the continent and are designing our efforts to respond to their specific circumstances.
Finally, we’ve learned the importance of local ownership and listening to farmers. This new African Green Revolution is a product of calls from African leaders and includes significant African leadership on a number of levels. The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and others are working hard to listen to local farmers and ensure their voices are heard and their needs are met.
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Q: How does biotechnology fit into the foundation's strategy?
A: Please see “Why the foundation funds research in crop biotechnology”
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Q: Do you pay attention to the environmental impact of your agricultural grantmaking?
A: Yes. We are focused on helping farmers increase their yields and incomes in ways that are sustainable over the long term. That means protecting the viability of the soil,water, and other natural resources on which they depend for their food and livelihoods.Population growth and poor soil health in Africa have forced farmers to clear and cultivate more marginal lands,often leading to erosion, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, and desertification. In Asia, the misuse of fertilizers and irrigation has caused large areas of land to be lost to acidification and salinization. These impacts have detrimental effects in the short term on food production and in the long term on yields, crop quality, and natural resources that are public goods.
Our grantmaking is helping increase farmers’ productivity on their existing land, decreasing the need to secure more land for agriculture. Our grants include efforts to increase farmers’ access to improved seeds, promote sustainable irrigation techniques and farming practices, and bolster soil health. For example, our partners are working in Mozambique to improve soil health and increase yields by planting legumes among other crops, which fertilizes the soil naturally. We also support sustainable alternatives to traditional irrigation, including a micro-irrigation project
with International Development Enterprises. We are watching all our irrigation projects to ensure that aggregate use does not deplete critical aquifers.
We continue to learn from grantees and small farmers about the best ways to realize both agricultural and environmental sustainability.
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Q: Does the foundation promote the use of fertilizers?
A: Healthy soil is critical to farm productivity, and the judicious use of organic and mineral fertilizers can help small farmers prosper while preserving their land.
We support AGRA’s Soil Health Program, which focuses on integrated soil fertility management as well as the use of fertilizers where necessary to provide important plant nutrients missing from the soil and from organic materials available to the farmer. We invest in information and knowledge-sharing to assist small farmers in using the right fertilizers in the right way to nourish their soil. We also invest in efforts to improve soil and water conservation techniques.
We are committed to sustainable agriculture, using farming supplies that farmers can afford and that take environmental needs into account.
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Q: What is the foundation doing about climate change?
A: The foundation believes climate change is a major issue facing all of us, particularly poor communities in developing countries. We applaud the work many are doing to help find solutions in this area. We believe the best way for the foundation to address climate change is to help poor farmers adapt. For example, we have made several grants to help small farmers who live in extreme poverty adapt to increased drought and flooding through the development of crops such as drought-tolerant maize for Africa and stress tolerant rice that can survive up to two weeks underwater.We are also investing in improved irrigation efficiency.
We also know most of the farmers who are adapting to climate fluctuations are women farmers, and, because of their multiple tasks in agricultural production and household welfare, they suffer disproportionately from depleted natural resources. We support technologies and policies that enable women to be productive on marginal lands, to bring water resources to their fields, and to equitably share the burden of labor in their households
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Q: Why is the foundation focusing on gender?
A: In developing countries, women do up to 80 percent of the work on farms. Yet in most areas in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, women are afforded less status than men, have less access to resources, and have greater responsibilities given their dual roles as mothers and farmers in rural households.
We believe that agricultural development programs must address gender in order to most effectively reduce hunger and poverty. Through the work of our grantees, we expect to see a visible improvement in the general welfare of households—women, children, and families—demonstrated by measured improvements in health and income. To ensure this occurs, we’ve developed a gender impact strategy for our work in Agricultural Development.
As part of this strategy, we have created a gender checklist to ensure that we and our partners are considering the optimal role of women in our projects from the outset. We’ve also adopted proposal templates to help grantees and program officers ensure that each grant has specific and sufficient measures in place to effectively address gender. And we have committed to offering tools and resources to help support grantees’ and partners’ efforts.
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Q: Why is the foundation investing in cash crops?
A: Cash crops, such as coffee, cotton, and cocoa, represent a critical portion of Africa’s agricultural economy, and improvements in cash crop productivity could help millions of farmers lift themselves out of hunger and poverty.
The foundation is providing access to improved farming supplies, market linkages, and information about improved cropping systems that will help farmers increase their incomes while better protecting the soil and environment. We are also working with private and public sector organizations to ensure that small farmers have access to markets, and receive the training and information they need to manage cash crops, form farmer collectives, and sustain economic growth over the long-term.
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