ST. LOUIS (June 14, 2023) — Bill & Melinda Gates Agricultural Innovations (Gates Ag One) is partnering with the Ghana-based Savanna Agricultural Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-SARI) to accelerate crop science that benefits smallholder farmers.

A Cambridge University-led project to develop self-fertilizing crops for African farmers has become the latest grantee of Bill & Melinda Gates Agricultural Innovations (Gates Ag One). The US$35 million (£28 million) grant will support the Enabling Nutrient Symbioses in Agriculture (ENSA) research programme over the next five years. 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.

Bill & Melinda Gates Agricultural Innovations (Gates Ag One) has announced its latest grant to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for the Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) project. The project targets improvements in photosynthesis through cutting-edge science after finding that approximately 1% of the energy from sunlight is converted into the growth of crop plants.

SAMPEA 20-T, a new genetically modified cowpea variety with resistance to Maruca pod borer, has been developed to specifically meet the needs of smallholder farmers.