The Gates Foundation just gave a $1.3 million grant to the Worldwatch Institute for a 2 year sustainable ag project in sub-Saharan Africa. Wow! I didn't know that the Gates Foundation was willing to support sustainable ag (since, to date, I've only seen them pushing the opposite). From Worldwatch Institute's press release:
Worldwatch Institute will assess the impacts of a range of farming techniques on the environment and agricultural productivity. The project will provide stakeholders, including policymakers, farmer and community networks, and international donors, with research on practical solutions for creating sustainable food security.
In other words, they are going to try some sustainable agriculture and see what happens. Nice. Here are the specific things they say they will try:
- Adding nitrogen-fixing plants into crop rotations as a low-cost solution for enriching soils and breaking weed and pest cycles;
- Overcoming freshwater shortages with rain harvesting, efficient irrigation, micro dams, and cover cropping;
- Strengthening local breeding capacity, including the use of farmer-run seed banks and genetic markers of important crop traits;
- Tapping international carbon-credit markets to reward farmers for enriching their soils and planting carbon-sequestering tree crops;
- Involving women farmers in decision-making at all levels.
Better yet? They are partnering with groups like World Neighbors, Ecoagriculture Partners, Heifer International, Rodale Institute, Slow Food International, International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the Global Water Policy Project. Very exciting! The end result of the project will be the Institute's 2011 annual report "World 2011: Nourishing the Planet," which will share the project's findings. |
