The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will create their new nonprofit
agricultural research institute in St. Louis.
Gates Foundation plans crop research center in St. Louis
Bryce Gray
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
01/29/20
ST. LOUIS — St. Louis’ crop science hub is set to get more crowded: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is planning to launch a local nonprofit dedicated to research that helps farmers in the developing world.
The entity will be known as Gates Ag One, the foundation said recently. It aims to help small farmers in developing countries access affordable tools and technology “to sustainably improve crop productivity and adapt to the effects of climate change,” the Seattle-based foundation said last week.
The organization said it intends to locate Gates Ag One — formally titled Bill and Melinda Gates Agricultural Innovations — in the St. Louis region. Additional details were not immediately available.
Bill and Melinda Gates are not strangers to the area and its reputation for crop research. Their foundation has previously given grants to the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in Creve Coeur.
The foundation gave $6.1 million to the Danforth Center about three years ago for work to improve varieties of sorghum crops for small farmers. The center has also received Gates Foundation funding for research on cassava, a root vegetable that is a dominant food source in sub-Saharan Africa.
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