Gates Foundation Announces New Green Revolution in Africa -- and Appoints a Former Monsanto Exec to Its Ag Program Area

We've been following with interest the Gates Foundation's recent announcements about launching a new "green revolution" in Africa in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation. For background about the history of American philanthropy and the original "green revolution" see Mark Dowie's excellent (but boring-ly titled) American Foundations. For a comprehensive critique of the "green revolution" see backgrounder papers at Food First and at Vandana Shiva's Navdanya Foundation. See also response by Peter Rossett in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: "Gateses' approach to African hunger is bound to fail." In other Gates Foundation news, former Monsanto VP Rob Horsch has been hired as a senior program officer working on agricultural developments in Africa. --Anna