Corn For Sub-Saharan Africa

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will provide $19.5 million for the Improved Maize for African Soils collaboration to create new corn varieties that can be grown with little fertilizer in the poor soil of sub-Saharan Africa. The partners will be led by the nonprofit International Maize & Wheat Improvement Center and will include DuPont’s Pioneer Hi-Bred seed subsidiary, the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, and the South African Agricultural Research Council. The group plans to use biotechnology tools to develop corn varieties that yield 30% more than current varieties and will provide the new varieties royalty-free to seed companies selling to local farmers.