From  VenturesAfrica. Story by Niyi Aderibigbe.

One of the world’s richest men, Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda have committed themselves to ensuring Africa is able to feed itself by 2030.

This is somewhat of a departure from 2008, when the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was about all helping Africans sell their crops, VenturesAfrica reports.

In 2015, the foundation’s focus is on greater productivity, the report said. The idea is to donate billions of dollars to help farmers grow a greater variety of food, so they can sell the surplus to supplement their family’s diet with other nutritious foods that may be lacking.

In its 2015 annual Gates letter, the foundation said, “The world has already developed better fertilizer and crops that are more productive, nutritious, and drought- and disease-resistant; with access to these and other existing technologies, African farmers could theoretically double their yields.”

The Gateses are aware agricultural extension in Africa is usually gender-biased, focusing more on men, when it’s the women who engage in more farm labor in Africa, VenturesAfrica reported. The Gateses said they hope this trend will change, with information going out to everyone who has access to a text messages on mobile phones.

Read more at VenturesAfrica.