Open Letter Sets Bill Gates Right About Global Food Insecurity

Food starved people of Kenya

An Open Letter to Bill Gates has been written by the Community Alliance for Global Justice and co-signed by 50 other organisations. It is in response to two recent articles in which Gates was featured commenting on the global state of agriculture and food insecurity, namely a recent New York Times op-ed and an Associated Press article.

The letter challenges a number of Gates’ assertions. It warns that Gates fundamentally misdiagnoses the problem of food insecurity as relating to low productivity, leading him to recommend the replication of Green Revolution technologies, including more fertilizer. However, the letter points out that the world does not need to increase production as much as to assure more equitable access to food. Moreover, the Green Revolution did very little to reduce the number of hungry people in the world and caused long-term soil degradation, and increased inequality and indebtedness. The letter points to the many tangible, ongoing proposals and projects that work to boost productivity and food security such as agroecological programs, and invites Gates to step back and learn from those on the ground.

- Third World Network