The Bill & Melinda Gates Agricultural Innovations (Gates Ag One), which aims to speed up efforts to provide smallholder farmers in developing countries, has announced $35 million in support for a Cambridge University-led project working to develop self-fertilizing crops for African farmers.
In a statement issued by the foundation, it said the $35 million grant will support the Engineering Nitrogen Symbiosis for Africa (ENSA) research programme over the next five years.
The foundation noted that the research consortium focuses on improving nutrient uptake by food plants to reduce the need for fertilizer across some of the world’s most degraded land.
Commenting on the development, the Chief Executive Officer of Gates Ag One, Joe Cornelius, averred that the pioneering work of ENSA is fundamental to levelling the playing field for smallholder farmers in Africa, leveraging the latest crop technology to ensure all communities have the chance to thrive.
“Breakthrough advances in crop science and innovation mean intractable challenges like nutrient uptake and soil health need not hold back agricultural development. We are delighted that Gates Ag One can support ENSA to continue its work to meet the needs of smallholder farmers.”
Mr. Joe Cornelius
On his part, the Director of the Crop Science Centre and Russell R Geiger, Giles Oldroyd disclosed that African agriculture is at an inflection point, with vastly increasing demand at a time when supply is at risk, especially due to a changing climate.
The Crop Science professor noted that the outcomes of this work have the potential to see gains as great as those from the Green Revolution, but without relying on costly and polluting inorganic fertilisers.
“Increasing production of crops sustainably in smallholder farming systems, like those in sub-Saharan Africa, directly addresses some of the worst poverty on the planet.”
Giles Oldroyd
As much as 65% of productive land in Africa is considered degraded, according to the United Nations, means crop yields are only around a third of the global average.
Fertiliser is often a costly and inaccessible resource for many smallholder farmers in Africa, which accounts for just 4% of global fertilizer consumption. Africa relies heavily on fertiliser imports from Russia, and the ongoing war in Ukraine has driven up prices by up to 150%.
Developing crops with a greater ability to take in nutrients through natural processes would therefore automatically increase yields without the need for fertilizer.
Engineering Nitrogen Symbiosis for Africa (ENSA)
ENSA scientists are breeding plants to maximize the naturally occurring processes in which fungi and bacteria help crops to convert more nutrients from the soil.
ENSA is the latest research project to receive funding from Gates Ag One, which recently announced a grant for the Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) project, of which the UK-based Cambridge University is a collaborator.
A not-for-profit subsidiary of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates Ag One was created to leverage global crop science to meet the needs of smallholder farmers in Africa and South Asia.
It focuses on accelerating research that enhances the biological processes of six priority food crops: cassava, cowpea, maize, rice, sorghum, and soybean.
The organisation works to accelerate breakthrough in agricultural research to meet the urgent and neglected needs of smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Out of the conviction that all lives have equal value, Gates Ag One serves the interests of smallholder farmers, who are most exposed to climate shocks yet lack the access that others have to the latest agricultural innovations.
Gates Ag One, co-chaired Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates , works to level the playing field and empower smallholder farmers to transform their agricultural productivity, nutrition security, and climate resilience.
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