African News Agency : Welcome

East Lansing, Mich, US, 19 Nov - (ANA) - Michigan State University researchers will spend a $7.8 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help eight African nations improve their sustainable farming methods.The grant, from the Gates Foundation Global Development Program, will be used to elp guide policymaking efforts to intensify farming methods that meet agricultural needs while improving environmental quality in Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Zambia, Ethiopia and Tanzania. Programs like this are paramount to Africa, as demonstrated by more than $2.5 billion in annual spending by African governments on agricultural intensification, said Thomas Jayne, project co-director and MSU agricultural, and resource economics faculty member. “All of the partners have made a long-term commitment to help this region’s programs reach their full potential,” he said. “MSU has longstanding expertise n this field, and our commitment to institution building was a major reason as to why the Gates Foundation put its trust in MSU for this grant.” During the next four years, the team will work with 10 African universities, institutes and government ministries to promote effective government strategies that help African farmers become more productive and food secure. The team also will build the capacity of national policy institutes to guide and support their own countries’ agriculture ministries and eventually accept and manage international grants. (ANA)