Gates Foundation's new funding policy to focus on specific countries for greater impact

The Gates Foundation announced late last year that it will be focusing funding more towards helping specific countries in Africa and South Asia benefit from agricultural research.

The countries of focus in Africa are Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda while in South Asia it will focus on Bangladesh and two of the poorest states of India, Bihar and Orissa.

Prabhu Pingali, deputy director of the foundation's Agriculture Development Division stressed that "funding would be based on the countries' own priorities and plans." 

The foundation will seek to shape the entire value chain by funding projects that link together research and development, agricultural policy and access to markets.

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