Grow further club: A new concept in agricultural R&D financing

Agricultural R&D is a proven development strategy with great importance for rural poverty, food security, and adaptation to a changing environment, and one where costs tend to be low in relation to other applications of science and technology such as health care and defense. Major foundations have recognized this for more than 50 years and made it one of their top priorities. Yet individual donors, who in the United States make almost $5 in charitable donations for every dollar of foundation grants, are almost completely disengaged from agricultural R&D. Nonprofit organizations, such as private universities and hospitals, play a large role in science generally but almost none in agricultural R&D. Government, the private sector, and the nonprofit sector all have strengths and weaknesses, and effectively engaging all of them will create a stronger innovation ecosystem to support the future of food production. Grow Further Club will start to do this by creating an open platform for middle-class Americans of diverse professions to learn about, engage with, and support agricultural R&D in developing countries for the benefit of poor farmers and the environment. Individual members will pool their funds and, under the advice of experts, make collective decisions regarding grants and prizes to public and nonprofit institutions in support of productivity, added value, adaptability, and environmental quality. While such a business model has never been used in financing of agricultural research, March of Dimes and Rotary International used a similar model to help nearly eradicate polio. More recently, “collective venture philanthropy” organizations such as Social Venture Partners have emerged to support nonprofit innovation in various other sectors. The concept here is to bring in both funds and ideas from those who were never before engaged, not to merely act as a financial intermediary or convener for existing funders, and to remain neutral on public policy issues (such as GMOs). The founder of Grow Further Club is Peter Kelly, who was one of the first Americans to teach agricultural economics on a permanent track in China. He came to realize that real innovations do not necessarily emerge from bureaucracy, and that with his background in international agriculture he could serve society better as a social entrepreneur filling a gap in the system than as a professor. So he went on a listening tour, talking to hundreds of experts, farmers, and potential members around the world, before returning to Seattle to organize an initial chapter. During his presentation, he will introduce the concept in more detail and discuss some of the specific possibilities for initial projects. The session is recommended for conference attendees who may have useful advice as well as those who may be eligible for future funding.