Engineered crops key to solving world hunger, says Bill Gates

In the latest annual Goalkeepers Report from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gates says the global hunger crisis is so immense that food aid cannot fully address the problem.

What's also needed, he argues, are innovations in farming technology that can help to reverse the crisis.

Gates points in particular to a breakthrough he calls 'magic seeds' - including maize that has been bred to be more resistant to hotter, drier climates, and rice that requires three fewer weeks in the field.

These innovations will allow agricultural productivity to increase despite the changing climate, he argues.

However, he claims that the research and development budget for new innovations like magic seeds is still much too small compared to spending on food aid.

'It's good that people want to prevent their fellow human beings from starving when conflicts like Ukraine interrupt the food supply, but we also have to recognise that those crises are symptoms of a deeper problem,' Gates says in the report.

'Many countries don't grow enough yet, and climate change is making farming even harder. That challenge can't be solved with donations. It requires innovation.'

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest private foundation in the world and is best known for its work on global health, including vaccines.

Continue reading.

Photo by Hanna Morris on Unsplash

Source: Agritech Future