Gates Foundation Announces Grants to Support Crop Diversity and Climate Adaptation
At the 35th session of the Governing Council of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced seven new grants to agriculture totaling $200 million, including the $21 million Tropical Legumes II project and the $33 million Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa project.
The Tropical Legumes project is part of a ten-year plan to improve the livelihoods of farmers in 15 countries in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, and is expected to bring $1.3 billion of added value to productivity of target crops including, chickpea, bean, cowpea, groundnut, pigeonpea and soybean. The introduction of new, improved seed is expected to address challenges such as drought, and pests and disease. This grant will assist the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). The second phase of this Legumes project will build on the introduction of over 60 new legume varieties introduced during the first phase, by focusing on gender-specific interventions, monitoring and evaluation, and strengthening capacity of national agricultural research systems. More details on http://climate-l.iisd.org/news/gates-foundation-announces-grants-to-support-crop-diversity-and-climate-adaptation/