Two and a half years ago, in a small village in Zambia where tuberculosis drugs were being tested, Melinda Gates asked a poor women what her difficulties were in taking the drugs. The woman replied that she did not have the food with which to take the medication, as directed by the doctor. This, says Prabhu Pingali, head of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Agricultural Policy and Statistics Program within the Agriculture Development Division, was the genesis of the Program on Global Development.
The idea behind the program is that development requires a broad approach and must encompass health, microfinance and other financial services for the poor, economic opportunity, and food security, Pingali indicated Sept. 11 at a seminar organized by the International Food Policy Research Institute. Food security is key, particularly in Africa and South Asia.
But where do you start? Boosting small holder farmer productivity might be the answer. Small farmers, with new technologies, techniques and inputs, can increase their yield; with greater market access, they can sell this surplus and use the funds to improve their lives. This value chain is how the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation envisions agricultural development as a potential engine for growth, improving living standards in some of the poorest rural parts of the world.
As a grant-making entity, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has an endowment of approximately $36 billion with grant commitments to date reaching $16.5 billion. Recipients of some of the larger agriculture grants include AGRA, CGIAR, IFPRI, and IRRI. The Agricultural Development Division, which is two and a half years old, currently employs 40 people and plans to hire another 20 over the next year. The Agricultural Development Division operates out of the foundation's headquarters is Seattle, Washington - one of the best places to live in the United States. For more information on job opportunities with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, visit the foundation's Web site.
