Specific projects will be chosen after Grow Further launches. Early projects will be relatively small and expected to show results quickly, while later projects may be larger or longer term, aiming higher along the lines of What Success Looks Like. Here are some examples of the types of early projects currently under consideration:
Support the efforts of a recent graduate of Washington State University to test quinoa growing methods in Africa. Quinoa, until recently grown exclusively in South America, has the potential to be a major food source in Africa, and seems to be culturally accepted, but little is known about how best to grow it under African conditions.
Support the use of digital video to inform agricultural scientists in India. Digital Green has created a peer-to-peer agricultural extension platform where they record farmers talking about their techniques and show the video to other farmers. They are in a position to, at a small cost, create similar videos to show to scientists to help set priorities.
A new kiwi disease has emerged in China’s Sichuan Province. Some farmers believe that it can be controlled without fungicides through some simple measures like changing the time of day of irrigation. However, thus far no grant has been available for a credentialed scientist to test their idea.
An increasing number of farmers in developing countries own smartphones, but many useful agriculture-related apps (such as irrigation scheduling apps) have not been translated or otherwise localized. This is something that can be done at warp speed compared to traditional agricultural research.
