a growing population, constantly evolving pests and diseases, and a changing climate,” as the young nonprofit explains on its “Why We Exist” web page. “Yet, selling patented technologies to smallholder farmers in developing countries is difficult, and government agencies and foundations too often overlook both fast-moving technology and indigenous knowledge.” According to the United Nations, 800 million people aren’t getting enough food to eat, a number that has been increasing in recent years, while several billion more face malnutrition. A growing population and the effects of climate change on farming, such as worsening droughts, call for innovation. Researchers are developing technologies to improve farming, but they’re often not relevant or affordable for small-scale growers. Unique to agricultural research philanthropy, Grow Further’s mission is to locate remarkable innovations and ideas in agricultural science that fall through the cracks–ideas that major aid agencies miss or ignore–and help these overlooked institutional research efforts push forward with their R&D. Everyone reading this now is invited to join Grow Further, because another unique feature to its work is the way Grow Further involves donors and members in both decision making and project monitoring. In other words, Grow Further members don’t just donate money; if they are willing and able, members are also afforded opportunities to donate their time and talents to help steer the organization’s work. With any luck, Grow Further will one day give a boost to some team quietly working on an idea that has the potential to feed millions while improving the lives of thousands of farmers in developing countries, farmers that don’t have the benefit of subsidized insurance and other big government programs. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that? “Innovation” is a central concept at Grow Further, the core of the organization’s ethos. The word speaks to not only what Grow Further looks for when scrutinizing grant-worthy research, but also how the organization itself approaches the mission of mobilizing 16 April 2024 the generous donations its partners and members pool to support its work. Grow Further’s motto is “connecting people and ideas for a food-secure future.” Peter says he was inspired to establish Grow Further as far back as his college days when he realized that there are only so many ways individuals can become involved in the fight for better food security and farming success in poorer countries. One could join as an employee one of the major government-driven aid agencies shrouded in acronyms— USAID, IFAD, FAO perhaps—and become directly engaged, or you could simply send money to a smaller non-profit where they will happily spend it doing what they want without any of your input. “There were some organizations that were very clear on how one could donate, volunteer, and otherwise get involved but hadn’t really accomplished much,” Peter explained. “Then there were others that had big important accomplishments transforming the future of food security but no way to get involved.” There was no third way until Grow Further entered the picture. Think of it as a “March of Dimes for food,” one analogy that’s often leaned on to explain what Grow Further is and what it does. The March of Dimes famously gathers donations from individuals to support medical research, and donors can select which medical research efforts they would like to support with their hard-earned currency. In a similar vein, Grow Further solicits (among other sources) direct donations from individuals to support agricultural research and development that’s aimed at supporting smallholder farmers in countries that often struggle to grow enough food for their populations. It can end there with a simple donation if that’s what the donor prefers, but Grow Further offers something extra. Donor-members not only get to feel good about supporting a worthy cause—innovation in the fight for better global food security—but they’re also invited to review, scrutinize, and ultimately select which projects will be awarded Grow Further grants. Donor-members get to meet with the researchers applying for Grow Further grants, and they are afforded opportunities to ask them questions and seek better clarification on what these teams are trying to accomplish with their visions for smallholder farm innovation. Members can also evaluate the progress of projects, gathering information that will inform their decisions in later grant application rounds. Grow Further issued its first two grants last year—donors and donor-members are now supporting scientific research in Ghana and Tanzania. The winning project in northern Ghana proposes greatly expanding the cultivation of Bambara groundnut, a drought-resistant superfood packed with nutrition and potential. In Tanzania, Grow Further is now funding R&D on a smartphone application that would help smallholder farmers detect the earliest signs of plant diseases and pest infestations. Peter was pursuing a career in academia in China before landing on Mercer Island. An agricultural economist by training, he said he enjoyed his time teaching at his tenure-track position in Beijing but was inspired to return to the United States thanks in part to some wisdom and inspiration imparted to him by none other than Bill Gates Sr., the late father of the famed Microsoft co-founder. Peter told Gates Sr. about his idea for a member-driven agricultural science nonprofit at an engagement both happened to be attending several years ago. “He told me that his son can’t solve the world’s problems alone and that if the first iteration of my idea doesn’t work the second will, and if the second iteration doesn’t work, the third will.” Bill Gates Sr. urged Peter to return to the United States from China and have a go at his dream. Peter says he moved to the Seattle area for the environment “and I stayed for the community.” “I moved to Mercer Island from Redmond so that I could be closer to Impact Hub in Pioneer Square, and stayed after Impact Hub closed,” he recalled. As noted earlier, Impact Hub played a crucial role in Grow Further’s birth. “I had chosen Redmond for the bike trails, but Mercer Island is a little more centrally located, and in recent
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