Abstract

Last year Gates Foundation members reflected on the Foundation’s role in agricultural development by conducting a yearlong analysis of the evolving agricultural development landscape in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia and agriculture’s powerful and volatile relationship to poverty reduction. This process resulted in an evolution of the Foundation’s strategic focus and reaffirmed the essential role of data and policy in pursuing agriculture-led poverty reduction.

This seminar will feature the highlights of the Foundation’s analysis, describe the evolution of the Agricultural Development Program’s strategy, and define the role of the Foundation’s agricultural policies portfolio in achieving its vision of poverty reduction. Seminar participants will also review the Foundation’s last four years of grant making in the area of data and policy analysis and discuss priorities for future policy work.