Posted on November 19, 2012

Gates Foundation Awards $7.8 Million to Michigan State University to Improve Farming in Africa

Michigan State University has announced a four-year, $7.8 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help improve sustainable farming methods in eight African nations.

Awarded through the foundation's Global Development Program, the grant will be used to help guide policy efforts designed to expand the use of farming methods that meet agricultural needs and improve environmental quality in Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Zambia, Ethiopia, and Tanzania. To that end, MSU researchers will work with universities, institutes, and government ministries in those countries to promote strategies that help farmers become more productive and food secure and that build the capacity of national policy institutes to support their own agriculture ministries and compete for and manage international grants.

Led by MSU faculty member Thomas Jayne, MSU researchers and their international partners will focus on seed development, fertilization, and crop rotation of three key crops — maize, sorghum, and rice — with the goal of increasing yields in a sustainable manner.

"By guiding investments and developing policies, we're hoping to create benefits that go beyond the direct recipients," said Jayne, who works in MSU's agricultural, food, and resource economics department. "The ripple effect could provide insights that feed more broadly into improving the policy processes in other countries in the region."