{"id":284766,"date":"2011-02-28T17:51:07","date_gmt":"2011-02-28T17:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/02\/28\/uk-gates-foundation-to-support-agric-research-boost-productivity-of-poor-farmers\/"},"modified":"2011-02-28T17:51:07","modified_gmt":"2011-02-28T17:51:07","slug":"uk-gates-foundation-to-support-agric-research-boost-productivity-of-poor-farmers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/28\/uk-gates-foundation-to-support-agric-research-boost-productivity-of-poor-farmers\/","title":{"rendered":"UK, Gates Foundation to support agric research, boost productivity of poor farmers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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You Are Here: Home<\/a> \u00bb General News<\/a> \u00bb UK, Gates Foundation to support agric research, boost productivity of poor farmers<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t \tPage last updated at Monday, February 28, 2011 17:17 PM \/\/ <\/span>\n\t\t\t <\/div>\n

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Bill Gates<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Monday announced a coordinated effort to reduce hunger and poverty in developing countries by supporting agricultural research projects to help small farmers increase their yields and incomes.<\/p>\n

DFID and the Foundation will work together to identify the projects, and the Foundation\u2019s agricultural development initiative will manage them.<\/p>\n

A statement received in Accra from the Foundation on Monday said the collaboration would focus on dealing with the most serious threats to food production in the developing world \u2013 such as crop diseases, pests, poor soil quality, and extreme weather \u2013 and tackle these threats from multiple angles to develop long-term, sustainable solutions.<\/p>\n

It noted that scientific research that helped farmers produce more and better food using fewer resources was critical for combating hunger.<\/p>\n

\u201cFarmers also need access to new tools, better training, reliable markets, and supportive policies. However, insufficient attention and resources have been given to supporting this key poverty- and hunger-reducing research,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n

It quoted the UK\u2019s International Development Minister, Mr Andrew Mitchell as saying for many of the poorest people in Africa and Southern Asia, the crops they grew not only provided most of their food but also an important source of income. \u201cIt\u2019s these people who are hit hardest by food price spikes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWorking with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we can drive new ways to make direct improvements in people\u2019s lives, whether by making disease-resistant crops more widely available so that small-scale farmers can grow and sell more, or by developing crops with added nutritional benefits that will give their families a better diet,\u201d Mr Mitchell said.<\/p>\n

This co-funding partnership comes as escalating food prices are putting millions at risk of hunger and malnutrition and threatening economic and social stability throughout the world.<\/p>\n

In January, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization\u2019s price index hit an all-time high, with prices for everything from rice to maize to sugar to meat surpassing 2008 levels.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe applaud DFID for taking a leadership role in supporting agricultural research,\u201d said Ms Sylvia Mathews Burwell, president of the Global Development Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope other governments in both the developed and developing world and donors will follow the UK\u2019s lead and increase investments to provide small-scale farmers with the tools they need to improve their yields so they can feed their families and overcome poverty,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

The statement said through this new collaboration, Cornell University was receiving US$40 million (\u00a325 million) to continue its work to develop wheat varieties that were resistant to emerging strains of stem rust disease, such as Ug99, which were spreading out of East Africa and threatening the world\u2019s wheat supply.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause wheat represents approximately 30 per cent of the world\u2019s production of grain crops and nearly half of that production will be harvested in developing countries, protecting wheat supplies is critical to global food security,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

Since 2008, when the Durable Rust Resistance in Wheat (DRRW) project at Cornell was first funded by the Foundation, researchers have distributed new stem rust resistant wheat varieties for testing and evaluation to more than 125 sites in 40 countries.<\/p>\n

They have strengthened rust screening nurseries in Kenya and Ethiopia and distributed nearly five tons of Ug99-resistant seed for planting in seven countries that are at high risk for food insecurity, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal.<\/p>\n

Under Cornell\u2019s leadership, the DRRW collaboration now involves 18 leading universities and research institutes throughout the world, as well as scientists and farmers from more than 40 countries.<\/p>\n

The statement said a second grant of $3 million (\u00a31.9 million) was awarded to Diagnostics for All (DFA) to develop inexpensive diagnostic tests that small farmers could use to improve the quantity and quality of milk produced by their cows and the safety of cereal grains.<\/p>\n

It said the new tests, \u201cwhich will cost only pennies (inexpensive)\u201d, would check for bovine pregnancy, milk quality, and a common toxin found in grain. Small farmers across Africa depend on livestock to supplement their food and income.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy eliminating the high cost of these tests, and making them more accessible to small farmers, these technologies will make livestock more productive. Farmers will be able to improve their own food security and make more money by allowing cows to produce more milk each year.\u201d<\/p>\n

DFID is contributing approximately US$32 million (\u00a320 million) over the next five years to this partnership, and the Foundation is providing US$70 million (\u00a344 million).<\/p>\n

Funding will support efforts that quickly put new technologies into the hands of small farmers, such as new seeds and robust, low-cost diagnostic tools; advance existing efforts by researchers, crop breeders, and development programs to help small farmers manage crop diseases and grow more nutritious crops; and support agricultural research that promotes cutting-edge scientific innovations.<\/p>\n

Source: GNA<\/p>\n

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You Are Here: Home \u00bb General News \u00bb UK, Gates Foundation to support agric research, boost productivity of poor farmers Page last updated at Monday, February 28, 2011 17:17 PM \/\/ Bill Gates The UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Monday announced a coordinated effort to reduce hunger and poverty in developing countries by supporting agricultural research projects to help small farmers increase their yields and incomes. DFID and the Foundation will work together to identify the projects, and the Foundation\u2019s agricultural development initiative will manage them. A statement received in Accra from the Foundation on Monday said the collaboration would focus on dealing with the most serious threats to food production in the developing world \u2013 such as crop diseases, pests, poor soil quality, and extreme weather \u2013 and tackle these threats from multiple angles to develop long-term, sustainable solutions. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-284766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nUK, Gates Foundation to support agric research, boost productivity of poor farmers - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/02\/28\/uk-gates-foundation-to-support-agric-research-boost-productivity-of-poor-farmers\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"UK, Gates Foundation to support agric research, boost productivity of poor farmers - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"You Are Here: Home \u00bb General News \u00bb UK, Gates Foundation to support agric research, boost productivity of poor farmers Page last updated at Monday, February 28, 2011 17:17 PM \/\/ Bill Gates The UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Monday announced a coordinated effort to reduce hunger and poverty in developing countries by supporting agricultural research projects to help small farmers increase their yields and incomes. 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