The relative lack of money devoted to agricultural innovation and research was a key point in this year’s annual letter from Microsoft founder Bill Gates on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s 2012 priorities. “Given the central role that food plays in human welfare and national stability, it is shocking—not to mention short-sighted and potentially dangerous—how little money is spent on agricultural research,” Gates wrote.
According to a foundation study, only $3 billion is spent each year on research dedicated to the seven most important crops, which include wheat, corn, rice, cassava, sorghum, legumes and sweet potatoes. Out of that total, about half comes from countries’ public funds, $1.2 billion is from private companies and $300 million comes from the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. In 2010 alone, the foundation made $2.4 billion in grant payments to a number of agricultural development programs.
In his letter, Gates noted that the world population is projected to grow to 9.7 billion by 2050, which makes it imperative to help poor farmers sustainably increase their productivity so they can feed themselves and their families. But this will be possible only if agricultural innovation is a priority, he concluded.
