Land O'Lakes Venture37 has received a five-year, $8 million grant from the Bill  & Melinda Gates Foundation to expand the Nourishing Prosperity Alliance (NPA) to to build a market for nutrient‐dense, climate‐adapted forage in Ethiopia and Kenya by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The five-year, $8 million grant builds on the successful, innovative pilot activity in Kenya, which convened leading agricultural firms, research institutions, and non‐profits across the animal nutrition market system to address market bottlenecks by co‐investing in early forage market development. This alliance is led by Venture37 and comprised of private sector partners Corteva Agriscience, the Kenya-based CGIAR center International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and Forage Genetics International.

The key features of this innovative project provide a scalable, market-wide solution to key gaps in the animal nutrition market to improve dairy production, boost climate resilience among farmers, increase access to animal-sourced foods, and reduce emissions. NPA brings together actors from across the value chain to drive inclusive growth in demand and supply to establish a thriving, self‐sustaining commercial marketplace for forage. The process of using climate‐adapted forage varieties and proven best management practices, provides for the local production of forage, enhancing community resilience to climate shocks, increasing the protection of soil and water sources, while capitalizing on the subsequent productivity gains in dairy to reduce the emissions intensity of livestock production.

The expansion of NPA also seeks to empower thousands of women smallholder dairy farmers by increasing their productivity and incomes. By applying climate-smart technologies and techniques, farmers enhance the quality and quantity of their milk supply for consumers, combating food and nutrition insecurity.

Forging a new path through this innovative alliance model, NPA was recently recognized by the AIM for Climate (AIM4C) initiative, selected as an Innovation Sprint partner. An AIM4C innovation sprint is a self-financed partnership to expedite climate-sensitive agriculture innovations that create lasting impact. AIM4C is a joint initiative by the United States and United Arab Emirates that seeks to address climate change and global hunger by facilitating innovative partnerships over the course of five years (2021 – 2025).