Roundup Ready - Monsanto

HELPING SMALLHOLDERS WITH
EDUCATION AND MICROCREDIT
Consolidation of the American agriculture
industry is leading to fewer and larger
farming operations. Meanwhile, worldwide,
most farmers are commercial producers
on a small scale or barely produce enough
to feed themselves and their families. Most
African farmers have one to three hectares,
and these smallholders do not have the
resources to expand. Monsanto, through
very capable and effective partners, is
involved in bringing modern technology
to small farms around the world.
In sub-Saharan Africa, Monsanto partners
with Sasakawa Global 2000 (SG2000) to
provide technical assistance at the field level
as well as support for local partners in the
public sector and academia. SG2000 has
worked in 15 African countries. It currently
has work under way in Benin, Ethiopia, and
seven other nations.
Winrock International is another important
organization. It often collaborates with SG2000
on agricultural programs. Winrock helps small
farmers use conservation tillage techniques
to expand the hectares they can cultivate
and thus become small commercial farmers.
Winrock also improves access to credit for
small African farmers — a program launched
with funding from Monsanto. 14
In Mexico, Indonesia, Kenya, and Uganda,
village banks are now in operation that provide
small loans to poor local farmers through the
support of the Monsanto Fund. Operated by
the Foundation of International Community
Assistance, such “microcredit” programs have
proven to be successful in fighting poverty.
They are creating new, healthy markets for
trade and commerce.
LARGE-SCALE FARMING PLAYS
IMPORTANT ROLE WORLDWIDE
Large-scale farming operations around
the world have successfully harnessed the
power of technology, financial resources, and
economies of scale to create unprecedented
advances in agricultural productivity. This,
in turn, has led to abundant and affordable
food and fiber in most of the developed world.
As a result, food prices for consumers have
remained at near-record low percentages
of household budgets in many developed
countries. The story is quite different,
however, in developing areas of the world.
Percent of Income Spent on Food
U.S. » 10%
HIGH INCOME NATIONS » 13%
MIDDLE INCOME NATIONS » 29%
LOW INCOME NATIONS » 47%
Source: U.S. Department of Agricultural/Economic Research Service
Public and private agricultural research has
been the foundation for much of this growth in
large-scale farming. New crop varieties have
continued to make significant impacts on crop
productivity, as recently released improved
varieties replace earlier improved varieties.
Many technological advances in the last
century have increased agricultural production,
but not all world regions benefited equally.
Public and private investments in innovations
could help the developing countries to achieve
income growth and to provide sufficient food
to their populations. Technology transfer
holds promise for improving incomes and
welfare throughout the world.
MODERN FARMING
METHODS KEEP FOOD
PRICES LOW.
{ MONSANTO COMPANY 2004 PLEDGE REPORT: PAGES 10-11 }