Gates Foundation launches new agricultural research institute

According to a press release published on 21 January 2020, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is in the process of creating a new nonprofit, Bill & Melinda Gates Agricultural Innovations, which seeks to accelerate the development of innovations supported by the foundation’s Agricultural Development team. The entity, to be known as Gates Ag One, aims to speed up efforts to provide smallholder farmers in developing countries, many of whom are women, with access to the affordable tools and innovations they need to sustainably improve crop productivity and adapt to the effects of climate change.

Gates Ag One will collaborate with a diverse community of regional and international public- and private-sector partners, as well as interested governments, to enable the advancement of resilient, yield-enhancing seeds and traits globally and facilitate the introduction of those breakthroughs into specific crops essential to smallholder farmers, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.