Are Gates and CGIAR a good mix for Africa?

The Gates Foundation's arrival on the CGIAR scene has provided a financial boost to the consultative group

International agricultural development acquired a significant new player last December when the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — the biggest private foundation in the world, with US$37 billion under its control — announced that it was joining the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

When the Gates Foundation launched its own agricultural programmes a few years ago its goal was hugely ambitious, namely to develop and introduce 400 new and improved crop varieties to help eliminate hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa, while also bringing some 15 million people out of poverty.

At the time, Bill Gates said: “No major region around the world has been able to make sustained economic gains without first making significant improvements in agricultural productivity”.