The Gates Foundation says it funds crop research, seeds, livestock vaccines, digital soil maps, farmer services and public- and private-sector agricultural programs across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. It also helps governments develop and implement agricultural strategies. That is influence, not ownership — but it is not nothing.
A Gates Foundation-funded independent evaluation of AGRA's 2017–2021 program found mixed results. The program reached more than 10 million smallholders but did not meet its headline goal of increasing incomes and food security for 9 million of them. Evaluators also said AGRA's monitoring data was not suited to rigorous impact analysis.
AGRA's response said donors had supplied about $1 billion over 15 years across 18 countries, less than 0.1 percent of the continent's estimated food-and-agriculture investment needs. It also pointed to new crop varieties, local seed companies and thousands of agricultural input shops.
There is no secret deed to African agriculture. There is a giant foundation with enough money to help decide which seeds, metrics and PowerPoints enter the room. Less viral. More worth watching.