If you have a few minutes, take the time to either watch or read the speech Bill Gates delivered at the World Food Prize in Des Moines. While I don’t care for the operating system that made him a multi-multi-billionaire, I don’t think anyone can argue that he is doing more good with his wealth than any other member of the superwealthy.
Africa is the only place where per capita cereal yields have been flat over the last 25 years. The average farmer in sub-Saharan Africa gets just over half a ton of cereal per acre. An Indian farmer gets twice that; a Chinese farmer, four times that; an American farmer; five times that. (more…)