Gates, Rockefeller charities to aid African farmers

SEATTLE, Sep 13 (Reuters) The Bill&Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation unveiled a joint 150 million dollar pledge to fight hunger and poverty in Africa by helping small farmers become more productive.

The two charities linked up to form the Alliance for a Green Revolution with the goal of improving agricultural development in Africa by increasing the productivity and profitability of small scale farms.

The venture said it seeks to replicate the success of the ''Green Revolution,'' an effort by the Rockefeller Foundation that increased food production and reduced famine in Latin America and Asia during the 1940s and 1960s.

''No major region around the world has been able to make sustained economic gains without first making significant improvements in agricultural productivity,'' Bill Gates, co-chair of the Gates Foundation, said in a statement yesterday.

The initial 150 million dollars pledge -- 100 million dollars from the Gates Foundation and 50 million dollar from the Rockefeller Foundation -- will go toward a five-year programme that tackles the issue through science, education, financing and policy. The programme seeks to educate and train African crop scientists, improve crop varieties, increase the supply of seeds with new companies and provide financing to boost the number of village retailers who sell seeds, fertiliser and farm tools.

REUTERS VJ RAI0730