Intervention Summary
DFID/Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Strategic Collaboration Portfolio for
Sustainable Intensification of Agriculture
What support will the UK provide?
The UK will provide £30m funding to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) Global
Development Programme over the period 2010-2015. This will enable the joint funding of a
portfolio of research projects covering:
i. near market R&D which aims to get the benefits and outputs of research into
widespread use to improve nutrition, food security and incomes quickly.
ii. translation of known science into technological solutions for use by applied researchers,
crop breeders development programmes and farmers in developing countries.
iii. high pay-off, higher risk, high impact research on global scientific priorities such as
fundamentally re-engineering the way that rice uses sunlight.
Through working together, DFID will benefit from BMGF’s high quality technical expertise and
reduce administration costs through the research projects being managed by them.
Why is UK support required?
What need are we trying to address?
Agricultural growth is known to reduce poverty, increase household welfare and generate
surplus through market-oriented agricultural systems1 more effectively than growth in other
sectors of the economy. However, smallholder farmers in SSA and SA could realize much
more of their agricultural potential by overcoming the causes of persistently low farm
productivity. Significant barriers to increased productivity are the limited availability of
improved technologies and husbandry practices appropriate for smallholder conditions and
farmers’ access to them, both of which are needed for sustainable intensification 2 of
smallholder agriculture3. This project will harness the potential of research to create sciencebased innovations and get them into use for the benefit of the poor.
1
World development report 2008.
http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/EXTWDRS/EXTWDR200
8/0,,contentMDK:21410054~menuPK:3149676~pagePK:64167689~piPK:64167673~theSitePK:2795
143,00.html
2 Sustainable agricultural intensification is defined as producing more output from the same area of
land while reducing the negative environmental impacts and at the same time increasing contributions
to natural capital and the flow of environmental services (Royal Society, 2009; Godfray et al., 2010).
3
UNCTAD 2010 Technology and innovation report 2010.
http://www.unctad.org/Templates/WebFlyer.asp?intItemID=5446&lang=1
What will we do to tackle this problem?
This intervention will allow DFID to co-invest intellectually and financially with BMGF’s Global
Development Programme in a mixed portfolio of research ranging from potentially high pay-off
cutting edge projects through to enabling and out-scaling near-market technology solutions
with immediate impact on developmental outcomes for the poor. BMGF has an outstanding
track record in identifying significant research opportunities, prospecting high quality research
proposals from leading researchers and consortia, and translating research into useable
outputs. This is well documented in their Strategy and Approach4 (2010). We will work with
BMGF to identify the best opportunities where DFID funds can add greatest value to a
balanced portfolio. This will include selected investments in projects that are currently ongoing, in pilot phase, in preparation and preliminary ideas. This collaboration contributes to the
achievement on MDG1 in Africa and South Asia where sustainable intensification, based on
technical innovation by small-holder farmers is a viable poverty exit pathway.
Who will be implementing the support we provide?
This project builds on our existing successful collaborations with BMGF, through AATF, the
CGIAR and GALVmed, to forge a new strategic collaborative research partnership. Jointly with
BMGF, we have determined a list of high impact activities where our funding can add value to
the research. For example, through filling critical funding gaps, pursuing research lines not
originally envisaged, strengthening links with other research and uptake initiatives, and
assuring greater policy relevance. Our support will add flexibility to BMGF pre-determined
funding by enabling the research to move faster where appropriate, with more upscaling of
research and technology into use.
We will agree annual allocations with BMGF in response to requests and proposals from
grantees and BMGF technical project officers and research managers. By jointly assessing the
portfolio annually we will determine the most efficient allocation of DFID funds to projects
across the portfolio to match resource needs with funding availability. This approach will
ensure timely funding decisions in response to often unpredictable research progress and
opportunities which is difficult to achieve for BMGF acting alone. DFID’s transactions costs
will be minimal as we will be using BMGF administrative and technical capacities.
BMGF grant making process requires the use of expert independent peer review of all
allocations over $500,000. Value for money is ensured through open competitive tendering
and invited tender rules and protocols. Strict rules on grantee costs are also followed which
set out what may be charged and reasonable levels, e.g. staff costs based on academic salary
scales, economy class airfares, overhead cap, and a benchmarking tool that allows cost
comparisons across grants.
The annual review/budget discussions will allocate DFID support to those parts of the portfolio
where flexible and/or external funding will be most effective in balancing funding needs with
resource supply.
4
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/agriculturaldevelopment/Pages/default.aspx
What are the expected results?
The outcome of this partnership is to generate, develop applications and promote new
technologies for use by smallholder farmers that will accelerate sustainable intensification
through increased agricultural productivity. This will improve rural livelihoods, farm incomes
and help to increase food security by greater access to affordable food by rural and urban
people.
Specific outputs of the project will derive from a set of research projects making up an agreed
portfolio of initiatives comprising different types of approach,:
i. near market R&D which aims to get the benefits and outputs of research into
widespread use to improve nutrition, food security and incomes quickly. Business
incubator and venture capital approaches are examples of how research can help to
stimulate the private sector to invest in profitable, sustainable businesses that will
benefit the poor along the market chain. Release of new crop varieties for use by
farmers e.g. maize specially adapted to the depleted soils of Africa and wheat strains
resistant to rust diseases also fall into this category of research (see table 1 A-type
deliverables). About 40% of the budget will be deployed in this area.
ii. translation of known science into technological solutions for use by applied
researchers, crop breeders, development programmes and farmers in developing
countries; for example improved nutritional qualities of major staple crops through
biofortification, better use of legumes to improve soil quality and atmospheric nitrogen
fixation, locating and mobilizing new genes for; re-establishing durable resistance to
wheat rusts that threaten world food security (see table 1 B-type deliverables). Around
40% of the budget will be used for this type of activity, and
iii. high pay-off, higher risk, high impact research on global priorities such as
fundamentally re-engineering the way that rice uses sunlight to increase yield by 50%
and double its water and fertilizer use efficiency, support of the BMGF Global Grand
Challenges programme is also relevant (see table 1 C-type deliverables). This area will
receive approximately 20% of the overall programme budget.
Table1. Agreed portfolio of projects for joint funding by DFID and BMGF
Project title
(research type)5
Meridian market chain
business incubators
(A)
Diagnostics for all
(A)
Aflatoxin control
(A and B)
Durable rust
resistance in wheat
(DRRW)
(A and B))
Improved maize for
african soils (IMAS)
(A and B)
Cassava
biofortification Phase II
(A and B)
N2Africa
(B)
Cassava genomics
and pathogen
diagnostics
(B and C)
C4 rice – phase I
(C)
Grand challenge
explorations
(C)
5
Expected outputs
Small and medium business incubator approach
for commercialisation of agricultural and postharvest innovations and venture capital leverage
Cheap, effective, simple, paper-based
immunoassay test kits for use in the field. These
can be developed for a wide range of diagnostic
tests including bovine pregnancy tests, aflatoxin
levels, and bacteria in milk.
Strategies for research, development and
commercialization of promising technology
interventions to measure, control and reduce
aflatoxin and its impacts.
Protection for 90% of wheat grown globally from
new types of virulent stem rust disease (Ug99 and
derivatives) spreading globally. This will be done
by resistance gene discovery and distribution to
breeders.
New varieties of maize that are better adapted to
Africa’s nutrient-deficient soils.
Cassava varieties with higher levels of betacarotene, iron and protein developed and bio
regulation dossier prepared
Faster genetic gains for improved yield and stress
tolerance of important tropical legume crops i.e.
groundnut, cowpea, common bean, and chickpea.
Improvement of cassava breeding material for
biotic and abiotic stress, and development
diagnostic assay techniques for major diseases
and pathogens
Increased rice yields by 50% and water use
efficiency by 100% by transforming rice from a C3
to a C4 photosynthetic pathway.
Support for speculative high pay-off research
ideas
Some projects will deliver impacts on more than one research type