Motivation
Source: flickr (IFPRI/Milo Mitchell). Grains and dried goods at market.
Learning from successes in agricultural development is now more urgent than ever. To understand what works in agriculture—what sorts of policies, programs, and investments in agricultural development have actually reduced hunger and poverty—the project Millions Fed: Proven Successes in Agricultural Development, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, identified 20 proven successes around the world and documented evidence on where, why, and how these interventions succeeded.
Outcomes
The book Millions Fed: Proven Successes in Agricultural Development was released during an opportune time when policymakers were ready and willing to scale up their investments in agricultural development through national, regional, and global mechanisms. Representatives from organizations such as the Canadian International Development Agency, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa, the Brazilian Ministry of Social Development, and the United Nations noted their plans to use the lessons gleaned from Millions Fed.
“This work is particularly timely as we engage to put into action the L’Aquila commitments.”
“[Millions Fed] will contribute to the adoption by governments of sound policies.”
- The project materials have been used widely in training and capacity building. More than a dozen academic programs reported using Millions Fed materials in their classrooms, including Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University, and Cornell University. The US Peace Corps distributed Millions Fed to volunteers in 75 offices around the world for use in the agricultural development, food security, and environment fields.
- The Millions Fed project yielded an increased appreciation for the communication of technical research to general audiences. The book was featured in more than 200 media outlets. For these efforts, Millions Fed received three prestigious Mercury Awards and the Quality of Communications award of the Association of Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA).
