Gates Agricultural Innovations (Gates Ag One) and Corteva Agriscience have announced a new collaboration to accelerate agricultural innovations in support of global food security.

February 14, 2025.

Leveraging Corteva’s global leadership in agricultural innovation along with Gates Ag One’s mission to accelerate the most promising agricultural innovations into the hands of smallholder farmers, the collaboration aims to lead the development of novel seed technologies, to boost sustainable crop productivity while building climate resilience.

Crop yields in sub-Saharan Africa, for instance, are today only around a third of the global average, and smallholder farmers are amongst the most impacted by climate change despite being amongst the least responsible for its impact. By 2050, climate change could reduce yields for some crops by up to 35 percent.

“It’s exciting to imagine the possibilities that a collaboration like this could help deliver,” said Joe Cornelius, CEO of Gates Ag One. “This is especially important for Gates Ag One’s mission to ensure that agricultural innovations can better meet the needs and realities of smallholder farmers.”

As a non-profit, Gates Ag One’s mission is governed by a Global Access policy, which means that technologies will be made more widely available and affordably accessible to their intended beneficiaries, namely smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

The collaboration is a long-term effort targeting a range of promising discoveries and will leverage Corteva’s industry-leading capabilities in biotechnology and gene editing with the goal of delivering breakthrough impacts. These include discoveries relevant to improved nutrient symbiosis in crops to make better use of nutrients already present in the air and soil. While still in early stages, this advancement could enable greater productivity, and environmental and climate sustainability.

“Innovation in agriculture is helping solve some of the world’s toughest challenges, including food insecurity,” said Sam Eathington, Chief Technology and Digital Officer of Corteva Agriscience. “Collaborations like this will not only expand global access to advanced technologies, but deliver breakthroughs that benefit farmers and consumers by making it possible to grow more food on roughly the same amount of land.”

Joe Cornelius will be speaking at the upcoming World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in San Francisco, which Corteva Agriscience are a Platinum Partner for. Book your place at the summit to connect directly with both teams to learn more about this exciting update.