Corn growing in the Afar region
Courtesy of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank

There are lots of new opportunities for rural community growing projects. Monsanto Canada is donating $60,000 in crop inputs to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank Growing Project Program. Monsanto has been associated with the Foodgrains Bank for a number of years.

Growing projects are a chance for people in a community to work together and contribute grain and other crops to help people around the world who are hungry.  A project involves people getting together to farm a portion of land, and then donate the crop to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. "Sometimes the crop is sold, and together with other fundraising that the project does, the proceeds are passed along to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and then they take that money and they use it in their overseas food aid and ag development projects," explains Trish Jordan with Monsanto Canada.  

"You know if you are a farmer, your whole goal is to produce a healthy, abundant crop and do so in the best manor you can, and even though these growing projects are managed by community volunteers, they really have the same goals," Jordan says. "It's a good fit for us because we have some products that can benefit the growing projects and then the growing projects obviously want to reduce their costs so that they can provide more funding to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank."

Last year the Foodgrains Bank approved 166 projects worth $44 million helping 36 different countries across the world.  The Canadian Foodgrains Bank says Monsanto Canada is an important part of it's effort to end world hunger.