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Gates’ gesture to rice farmers

Manila: A foundation run by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife will provide a $19.9-million grant to develop rice varieties that will benefit 4,00,000 small farmers in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, said the Philippine-based International Rice Research Institute on Friday.

Mr. Gates announced the donation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as part of a package of agricultural development grants during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said the IRRI in a statement issued in Manila.

The money will be used to develop and distribute over three years rice varieties that can withstand drought, floods and salty water in rain-fed ecosystems where farmers have little or no access to irrigation. Such conditions reduce yields, harm livelihoods, and foster hunger and malnutrition, it said.

The grant is part of a $306-million package that nearly doubles the Foundation’s investments in agriculture since it launched its agricultural development initiative in mid-2006, said the statement.

“If we are serious about ending extreme hunger and poverty around the world, we must be serious about transforming agriculture for small farmers — most of whom are women,” Mr. Gates was quoted as saying. The Gates Foundation, founded in 2000, supports projects to improve health, reduce poverty and increase access to technology. — Agencies

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