Editorials / Opinion

GETTING tomatoes to ripen in Seattle's unpredictable summer weather may be an iffy proposition for local gardeners, but our state's fertile soils, temperate climate and abundant water make Washington one of the most productive growing regions in the world.

Although people complain about high prices at the supermarket, the abundant harvests produced by Washington farmers help keep the cost of food in the U.S. to just 6 percent of the average household's budget.

Contrast that with the story of farming and food in poor countries, where farmers get very low yields — just a fraction of what we get — and people spend a huge amount of their income on food. In Kenya, 45 percent of the average household budget is spent on food. In India, families spend six times more of their household budget on food than we do.

On any given day, a billion people — 15 percent of the world's population — are worrying about whether their family will have enough food to eat that night.

For most of us, the fact that people don't have enough to eat only comes into view when we hear about a famine or natural disaster. Back when I was in high school, a popular and controversial book, "The Population Bomb," woke up a lot of people with a frightening prediction. It said hundreds of millions of people would starve to death because there wasn't enough food to feed the world's growing population.

Fortunately, new seed and production technologies came along in time to help farmers in many poor countries dramatically improve their yields. This Green Revolution saved millions of lives and helped many nations advance from the depths of poverty.

But the world's success in averting famine led to a certain complacency. Governments in both rich and poor countries focused their attention on other issues, and the percentage of development aid wealthy countries devoted to agriculture fell by more than 75 percent.

Today, many poor farmers still struggle to grow enough food, while contending with new plant diseases and the consequences of climate change. That's especially true in parts of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, where a Green Revolution never happened.

I'm optimistic that we can solve this problem, because we've done it before. Working with many partners, our foundation has invested almost $2 billion to help poor farm families increase their land's productivity while preserving the land for future generations. Recently, we signed model partnership agreements with Brazil and China — both leaders in agricultural innovation — to help farmers in the poorest countries grow hardier, higher-yielding and more disease-resistant crops of soybeans, cassava, rice and other staples.

But the problem requires more attention and funding from traditional aid donors. The governments of wealthy nations, which have been so generous up to now, must continue to support agricultural research that has yielded such amazing returns in the past.

The benefits of these investments are manifold. Helping poor farmers grow sustainable, higher-yielding crops creates food security, which increases social and economic stability everywhere. A larger food supply and lower prices mean better nutrition for children so they can grow up healthier, go to school and become productive adults.

As the economic crisis continues and some of our politicians start talking about cutting foreign aid for the world's poorest, we face a clear choice: On the one hand, we can invest modest amounts to continue the progress we've seen over the past 50 years; on the other, we can choose to tolerate a world in which one in seven people goes hungry.

I'm confident that when government leaders understand the choice, and the power of the solutions available, they'll make that first choice.

Bill Gates is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.