Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation CEO Jeff Raikes has called on governments, donors, researchers, farmers' groups, and others to remain committed to the cause of agricultural development as climate change, water scarcity, and economic conditions create new challenges for the world's poorest farming families.

Speaking at the World Food Prize presentation in Des Moines, Iowa, Raikes noted that agriculture is a proven pathway out of hunger and poverty, and that smallholder farmers need the continued support of the global agricultural development community to survive. While commending global investments in agricultural development, including an increase in U.S. assistance to sub-Saharan Africa from $657 million in 2005 to more than $1.5 billion in 2009, Raikes said budget pressures are threatening progress. Indeed, while the G20 countries pledged $22 billion last year to help the world's poorest farmers, they are unlikely to meet their pledges this year.

Raikes called on all members of the agricultural development community to work together to help smallholder farmers gain access to better seeds and agricultural innovations tailored to meet their needs and help them adapt to climate change. For instance, a project launched by the Mexico-based International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center with support from the Gates Foundation and other partners is developing drought-tolerant maize varieties to help farmers adapt to increasingly frequent droughts. By 2016, the project is expected to help 40 million African farmers boost their maize yields by as much as 30 percent.

"We can learn more about small farmers, we can innovate to get ahead of the next challenge, we can form broader, deeper partnerships that allow us to maximize our impact against poverty and hunger," Raikes said. "What's required of us is our unfailing commitment to the cause of agricultural development."