MSU gets $10.4M grant for African food initiative

WKAR Public Media

Published October 15, 2009 at 7:59 PM EDT

By AP

EAST LANSING, MI – Michigan State University says a five-year, $10.4 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will help it train African biosafety regulators.

The grant is part of the foundation's new $120 million initiative aimed at using technology to increase food production in sub-Saharan Africa.

The university said Thursday it's working with the New Partnership for Africa's Development "to connect African biosafety regulators with advances in technology."

Four staffers from the African Biosafety Network of Expertise are taking classes and working with Michigan State faculty. The school says they're studying biotechnology issues that affect small farmers, focusing on production costs, environmental safety and human health.

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