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GRANTEE ANNOUNCEMENT
October 15, 2009 

AGRA Launches Policy Initiative to Empower Africa to Shape Home-Grown Agricultural Policies

New initiative announced for World Food Day recognizes policy’s pivotal role in attaining African food security

DES MOINES, Iowa, and NAIROBI, Kenya -- The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) today launched an initiative to empower African governments to shape home-grown agricultural policies that provide comprehensive support to smallholder farmers. The initiative is supported by a US$15 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

With an initial focus on five countries (Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Mozambique and Tanzania), the initiative will strengthen African agricultural policy-making capacity through training agricultural policy analysts; bolstering policy think tanks; establishing data banks to support evidence-based policy development; and coordinating national policy hubs. It will focus on policies that support farmers in the areas of seeds; soil health; markets and trade; land rights; women’s rights; equity; environmental sustainability; and climate change.

To read the full press release, visit the AGRA web site.

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Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.
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