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G8+Gates? Microsoft founder joins national governments in funding poor farmers
photo by Kjetil Ree (source: Wikimedia Commons)
The Gates Foundation is a philanthropic organization founded by Bill and Melinda Gates with the principal aims of improving healthcare, fighting poverty and improving education. It has an endowment of over $30 billion (€22.5bn/₤19.5bn).
On Thursday the foundation announced that it would contribute $30 million (€22.5m/₤19.5m) to the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program, an international fund set up to aid for farmers in the developing world.
From an AFP report:
The fund was first discussed at the G8 meeting in L’Aquila, Italy last year, where 14 wealthy nations committed to contributing some 22 billion dollars to invest in agriculture in low-income countries.
It’s amazing when an individual – or a few individuals – becomes a greater force than a country or, in the Gates’ case, several countries. Honestly, I think it’s sick. Something is inherently wrong with any system that allows millions to live in poverty while one person is a multibillionaire, no matter how generous he turns out to be. I have long suspected that Bill Gates knows this and that he takes opportunities like this to use his financial resources and celebrity-like status to encourage governments to do what he believes they should be doing. This is a political as well as charitable move.
From a Globe and Mail report:
The United States is donating $67-million and asking Congress for another $408-million. Spain has pledged $95-million and South Korea $50-million. That was billed as launch money, and billions more will be needed as the funding so far amounts to just more than one dollar for every impoverished farmer. There are an estimated 750 million farmers earning less than a dollar a day, according to the World Bank.
The action itself – like the actions of many philanthropists – is of course admirable and will hopefully be very beneficial to those farmers in need. Despite controversial anti-trust practices, I believe that Gates has consistently shown himself to be a powerful source for good. Yet the fact that an individual has the power to operate on the level of a national government – whether charitable or otherwise – is absurd and fundamentally undemocratic. What’s even more absurd is that he is showing up many governments who have not yet made good on their pledges.
From the Guardian:
Gates’s $30m contribution goes into a $875m pot put together with the US, Canada, South Korea and Spain, but far short of the $22bn agreed by the international community.
Right or wrong, we live in a world where individuals can make huge differences – and it’s not just Bill Gates. Just look at uber-rich philanthropists Warren Buffet, George Soros and Oprah Winfrey for a few other high-profile examples.
by Graham Land
Additional resources:
Vancouver Sun – Canada, Gates join forces on food fund
Bernama – Korea Helps Launch Global Food Security Program
Tags: agriculture, bill, Canada, countries, farmers, foundation, fund, funding, G8, Gates, Korea, Melinda, philanthropists, poor
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