Page 17 - Msingi Afrika Magazine Issue 13

Wholeness

smallholders.

Much has happened since then. For
starters, Bill and Melinda Gates an-
nounced their divorce in May this year,
leaving the future of the Foundation
and its grant-making in doubt. The
news came as Bill Gates himself came
under fire for supporting Big Pharma’s
patent monopoly on COVID-19 vac-
cines, for effectively preventing people’s
access across much of the world, and
for how he treats - or mistreats - wom-
en.2 The Foundation’s agenda with Infograph by A Growing Culture
agriculture has also been coming under
increased scrutiny. A 2020 report from
Tufts University concluded that its work Gates Foundation is about much national organisations (World
in Africa completely failed to meet the more than just making grants. The Bank, UN agencies, etc.). The
objectives that it had set itself.3 The Af- Foundation’s Trust Fund, which other half ended up with hun-
rican Centre for Biodiversity published manages the Foundation’s endow- dreds of research, development
a string of reports denouncing the ment, has big investments in food and policy organisations across
Gates Foundation for pushing GMOs and agribusiness companies, buys the world. The Gates Founda-
and other harmful technologies onto up farmland, and has equity invest- tion claims that 80% of their
Africa.4 Amongst all this, the US Right ments in many financial companies grants are meant to serve African
to Know collective started a “Bill Gates around the world.7 These, and other farmers. But of the funding to
Food Tracker” to monitor the multiple activities of Gates in the area of these hundreds of organisations
initiatives that Gates is involved in to food and agriculture, are illustrated a staggering 82% was chan-
reshape the global food system.5 in the infographic that accompanies nelled to groups based in North
this report. (Infograph by A Grow- America and Europe while less
GRAIN wondered whether the Gates ing Culture) than 10% went to Africa-based
Foundation had been receptive to the groups.
criticism of its food and agriculture The Gates Foundation fights
funding. So we set out to update our hunger in the South by giving The breakdown of the NGOs
2014 report, downloaded the Founda- money to the North that the Gates Foundation funds
tion’s publicly available grant records is even worse. Almost 90% of
and created a database of all of the Graph 1 and Table 1 provide an this funding goes to groups in
Foundation’s grants in the area of food overall picture of GRAIN’s research North American and Europe
and agriculture from 2003 to 2020 – al- results. Almost half of the Foun- whilst just 5% is directly chan-
most two decades worth of grant-mak- dation’s grants for agriculture went nelled to African NGOs. The
ing.6 to four big groupings: the global Gates Foundation seems to
agriculture research network of the have very little trust in African
The results are sobering. From 2003 to Consortium Group on International organisations serving African
2020 the Foundation dished out a total Agricultural Research (CGIAR), the farmers. Not that we would want
of 1130 grants for food and agriculture, Alliance for a Green Revolution in the Gates Foundation to just
worth nearly $US6 billion of which Africa (AGRA – set up in 2006 by send more of its grants directly
almost US$5 billion is supposed to the Gates Foundation itself together to Africa if it comes with the
service Africa. There was no shift to with the Rockefeller Foundation), same corporate industrial farm-
try and reach groups in Africa directly, the African Agricultural Technol- ing agenda. But it illustrates the
no refocusing away from the narrow ogy Foundation (AATF – another point of where the priorities of
technological approach, and no moves technology centre pushing Green the Foundation lie.
to embrace a more holistic and in- Revolution technology and GMOs
clusive policy agenda. Of course, the into Africa) and a number of inter- For contrast, Oxfam spends over
half of all its funding directly in

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