Bill Gates Accepts Hunger Award, Says Focus on Poor Farmers "More Important Than Ever"

Washington (ots/PRNewswire) -

- Previewing themes in his upcoming report to G20 leaders,
Gates highlights innovations and partnerships as keys to development

Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,
today accepted World Food Program USA's George McGovern Leadership
Award for his foundation's efforts to help small farmers in the
developing world overcome hunger and poverty. Gates said the famine
in the Horn of Africa, rising food prices, and a growing population
make it more important than ever to help poor farm families grow and
sell more food.

At next week's G20 Summit in Cannes, France, Gates will deliver a
report outlining how innovations and partnerships in health and
agriculture can help increase global stability and put the poorest
countries and people on a long-term path to economic growth and
equality.

"I'll be taking a message to the G20 that we can't turn our backs
on the world's poorest, even in these tough economic times," Gates
said. "Our current fiscal crisis shouldn't force cuts in programs
like agriculture that build self-sufficiency, pay huge returns, and
advance stability and economic growth."

In 2009, in the face of historically high food prices and
increasing global hunger, the G20 committed $22 billion to food
security. But to date, only about half of these pledges have been
disbursed or are on track to be disbursed.

Gates said the famine in the Horn of Africa should be a final
wake-up call for the international community.

"It's unconscionable for a famine of this magnitude to be
happening in 2011. The world has the knowledge, tools, and resources
to help the world's poorest overcome hunger and extreme poverty," he
said.

The region's worst drought in 60 years has led to widespread crop
failure and loss of livestock, threatening the livelihood of more
than 13 million people and claiming the lives of nearly 30,000
children under the age of five.

"At a time of intense debate over budgets, we should remember
that these kinds of investments not only save lives, improve
livelihoods, and promote stability-they also save money in the long
run," Gates said. "These are long-term efforts that require long-term
commitments."

Gates spoke at the U.S. Department of State, where he and
philanthropist Howard Buffett received the George McGovern Leadership
Award. The award is presented to policymakers and other leaders for
their efforts to end global hunger. Past recipients include Secretary
of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator Dick Durbin, and
long-distance runner Paul Tergat of Kenya. Vice President Joe Biden
and USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah also delivered remarks at the
event.

Gates and Buffett are the joint recipients for their leadership
in establishing the Purchase for Progress (P4P) program at the World
Food Program (WFP).

P4P is an innovative public-private partnership helping small
farmers in developing countries become suppliers for WFP's
large-scale food programs. The long-term goal of P4P is to help
farmers connect to other markets and that's already happening. In
Zambia Uganda and other countries, for example, small farmers who
organized through P4P are selling their crops to private companies as
well.

Gates cited other initiatives in agriculture that are yielding
promising results:

- New rice varieties in India that can "hold their breath"
under water have helped save farmers' entire crops from being wiped out.
In the next six years, it's expected that 20 million farmers will be
planting these and other stress-tolerant varieties in South Asia and
Africa.
- Drought-tolerant maize varieties currently benefit more than 2
million smallholder farmers in East Africa. By 2016, the
Drought-Tolerant Maize for Africa program
[http://www.gatesfoundation.org/agriculturaldevelopment/Pages/drought-tolerant-maize-for-africa-profile-of-progress.aspx ]
is expected to boost
maize yields by as much as 30 percent, benefitting up to 40 million
people in 13 Sub-Saharan African countries.
- Africa accounts for approximately one-third of global rice
imports, and demand is growing. To keep up with rising demand, rice
production must increase by about 70 percent over the next two decades.
In response to this need, China recently launched the "Green Super
Rice" partnership to help develop different types of rice for 12 poor
countries in Africa and South Asia. These varieties will be able to
adapt to stresses such as drought and pest outbreaks.

To date, the Gates Foundation has committed $1.8 billion to help
millions of small farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia-most
of whom are women-grow and sell more food as a way to reduce hunger
and poverty. When small farmers are able to produce more while
preserving the land's fertility for future generations, they can
improve their families' nutrition and become self-sufficient for the
long term. The foundation focuses on the needs of small farmers and
on the crops and livestock that are most important to the rural poor.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Guided by the belief that every
life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to
help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing
countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them
the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In
the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people-especially
those with the fewest resources-have access to the opportunities they
need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the
foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates
Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren
Buffett. Learn more at http://www.gatesfoundation.org or join the
conversation at Facebook
[http://www.facebook.com/billmelindagatesfoundation?ref=ts ] and
Twitter [http://twitter.com/gatesfoundation ].

ots Originaltext: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
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Contact:
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