Author: Jeremy Cherfas

Taking a leaf from the EU’s book, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is offering us a PEARL. That’s the Program for Emerging Agricultural Research Leaders. Tremendous idea, to train and empower younger scientists, specifically “African scientist[s] residing in sub-Saharan Africa or planning to relocate to sub-Saharan Africa to implement the proposed project”.

With this call, we are looking for projects led by MSc and PhD scientists at national agricultural research institutions and universities in sub-Saharan Africa, working in collaboration with other researchers internationally (either within Africa or beyond the continent).

There’s up to US$500,000 available for each project, and you still have until 30 September to get your pre-proposal in. But don’t think you can work on any old thing. No sirree. There are “Exclusionary criteria,” for example no “[i]mprovements to current regulated chemicals or the development of new chemical formulations that would be considered regulated chemicals”. And no (or not much) agricultural biodiversity:

We will NOT consider funding for:

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Proposals that are not applicable to one or more of the following crop and livestock species: maize, wheat, rice, millet, sorghum, cassava, sweet potatoes, yams, beans, cowpeas, chickpeas, groundnuts, banana, chickens, small ruminants (e.g. goats), and cattle;

No idea what order those are in; possibly their importance in the BMGF pantheon. But if you wanted to work on, say, bambara groundnuts, leafy greens, cavies, baobab, fonio, cane rats, cocoyam, tef etc., etc., etc you’re out of luck.

You obviously have nothing to contribute to whether “three-quarters of the world’s poorest people” have enough to eat, are able to send their children to school, and can earn any money to save and lead healthy and productive lives.

Too bad.