Iowa State University Receives Grand Challenges Explorations Grant For Groundbreaking Research in Global Health and Development

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences received a grant for $100,000 from Grand Challenges Explorations, an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Margaret Smith, Value Added Agriculture Program extension specialist, and Tom Brumm, associate professor of agriculture and biosystems engineering, will use the grant to research the use of hand-operated seed cleaners for Ugandan farmers, who are primarily women.

The Grand Challenges Explorations initiative provides funds to individuals worldwide to solve persistent global health and development challenges. Smith and Brumm’s project is one of more than 50 grants awarded through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

To receive funding, Smith and Brumm submitted an idea to address global heath and development topic areas, which include agriculture development, neglected tropical diseases, and communications. Applications for the next round will be accepted in September.

Smith has been working with women farmers in Uganda on soybean production for the last two years. The crop, which was not widely grown, is now providing improved nutrition for rural families and an additional cash crop for small-scale farmers. The women currently winnow the soybeans by blowing on the grain as it falls to the ground, which is a laborious process and has caused allergic reactions to the dust and chaff.

Ugandan women farm by hand, which is time and labor intensive. Simple, small-scale, labor-saving devices are beyond their price range. This study will evaluate the effectiveness of using a portable, hand-operated seed cleaner that could be purchased and shared by groups of farmers. Iowa State mechanical engineering students developed the seed cleaner with input from Ugandan farmers.

Smith and Brumm will work with several Ugandan partners to manufacture, distribute, evaluate and train students to repair the seed cleaners. In addition, the project will help farmers get agricultural loans and identify groups willing to purchase the seed cleaner.

The Grand Challenges Explorations is a $100 million initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The fund was started in 2008 and more than 800 people in 50 countries have received grants. The grant program is open to anyone from any discipline or organization. The initiative uses an accelerated grant-making process with short two-page online applications and no preliminary data. Initial grants of $100,000 are awarded two times a year. Successful projects have the opportunity to receive a follow-on grant of up to $1 million.