Rock on

Citation

(2007), "Rock on", International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 56 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijppm.2007.07956cab.002

Rock on

IThe Rockefeller Foundation, one of America’s largest private philanthropies, has committed $50 million to a five-year program to increase the productivity of Africa’s small farmers, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has also put up $100 million.

This “Alliance for a Green Revolution” aims to replicate the success of Rockefeller-led programs in Asia and Latin America during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, which helped many nations of the region kick-start a productive agricultural sector.

Those earlier programs, critics say, made the mistake of relying too heavily on a rapid modernization of local agriculture, which lead to overuse of pesticides, over reliance on single crops and other problems. This time around, the foundation plans to take a more varied approach in nurturing small farms and encouraging sustainability.