2006 - Monsanto

Poverty Alleviation/
Food Self-sufficiency
Hunger, poverty and food insecurity have been linked to low
agricultural productivity of subsistence farmers around the world.
We, at Monsanto, are in a unique position to help growers increase
food production with modern agricultural tools.We are working to
deliver the benefits of these tools to Africa, a continent that faces
many challenges but which has great potential to reduce poverty
and become self-sufficient in agriculture.
Hope Lives on an African Farm
Millions of subsistence farmers in sub-Saharan
Africa invest their time and labor tilling their small
fields, planting poor-quality seeds, and hand-hoeing
weeds in hope of harvesting enough food to survive.
Drought and lack of good agricultural products
often thwart their efforts. The average maize yield
for a farmer in sub-Saharan Africa is one tenth of
that realized by farmers in the United States and
Europe. Low yields and small farms result in a
“hunger season” of several months before each
new harvest.
MONSANTO 2006 PLEDGE REPORT 5
The cost for food aid to feed a family
of 6 for one year in Malawi is $400. 6
The cost for quality hybrid seed and
fertilizer for a family of 6 to feed itself
for one year in Malawi is $40. 6
$ 400 $ 40
food
aid
vs.
Comparison of corn ears from a Monsanto hybrid
(left) and a traditional open-pollinated variety in
Malawi, March 1, 2006.
With nothing to invest and no surplus to sell,
farmers are trapped in a poverty cycle. They lack
the means to purchase high-quality inputs that
could make their farms more productive. Up to
70 percent of the poor people in Africa are
farmers, so low agricultural productivity is a
major contributor to poverty on the continent. 7
Agriculture is a wealth-creating investment that can
help break the poverty trap. Last year the Monsanto
Fund donated $1 million to the World Food Program
for drought-relief food aid in Malawi, a small inland
country in sub-Saharan Africa. The actual cost to
purchase and deliver a ton of maize to feed a
farm
inputs