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About one in every
eight people in
the world is either
hungry or undernourished. Particularly in Africa and Southeast
Asia, tens of thousands of
infants and mothers
die each year due
to iron or vitamin deficiency.
During the next 50 years, the world's population
will increase by 50%, to almost nine billion people
(source: World
Bank). During the same period, the availability of fertile soil
and clean water is expected to
decline substantially.
There is an urgent
need to ensure that there are adequate quantities of food of
acceptable quality from
local production.
The Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable
Agriculture (www.syngentafoundation.org) contributes to
addressing this
global challenge
by supporting research projects on sustainable food security
in the poorest
regions of the
world.
In 2002, the Syngenta Foundation was admitted
as a member of the Consultative Group on International
Agricultural Research
(CGIAR), a consortium
of public research
institutions, governments and foundations dedicated
to using science
to alleviate poverty
in developing countries.
This, and the appointment of Andrew
Bennett - with
over 35 years' experience in international development in
Africa, Asia,
Latin America, the Pacific and the Caribbean - as the new Executive
Director, will further strengthen
the Syngenta
Foundation's capabilities and influence.
In addition to its
research and
collaborations
on international
agricultural policy relating to food security,
the Syngenta
Foundation has three principal development projects:
- in partnership with the government of Mali, the Foundation supports a research station in Cinzana to explore pest and disease resistant grain, and to establish new ways for cultivation techniques to be adapted in various agro-ecological zones in the Sahel.
- the Sustainable Land Management project in Eritrea conducts research in water and soil conservation. With collaborators from the Universities of Bern and Asmara and the Eritrean Ministry of Agriculture, this project also aims to strengthen the infrastructure of Eritrea's agricultural institutions to support local development initiatives.
- working with national and international research institutions in Kenya, new varieties of corn resistant to devastating insect pests are being developed.
More
information
about
the
Syngenta
Foundation
for
Sustainable
Agriculture
is
available
at www.syngentafoundation.org
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