Make It Better Magazine Spotlights 2Blades’ Work to Address the “Silent Crisis” of Crop Disease
2Blades’ work was selected to appear in the “You Said It” section of Better magazine, published by the Make It Better Foundation. With an aim to revolutionize the non-profit sector, Make It Better identifies and empowers the most transformative nonprofits by mobilizing its philanthropic community with opportunities to make lives better. This article provides readers with a snapshot of disease threats to global food security and 2Blades’ work to protect harvests.
Rose Kaunda, soybean farmer in Kenya
While global conflicts, climate change, and trade disruptions are widely recognized contributors to food insecurity, Make It Better magazine has spotlighted 2Blades’ work on a less visible but equally urgent challenge: crop disease. This “silent crisis” is responsible for up to 40% yield loss in a given year, and while breakthroughs in plant science - including genomics, pathology, gene editing, and artificial intelligence - are opening new pathways in the development of resilient crops, many of these innovations fail to reach farmers.
Through 2Blades’ dual-market model, the article highlights our efforts to address this challenge by delivering benefits at scale through large commercial growers while also ensuring access for smallholder farmers in food-deficient countries, where better options are most urgently needed. What’s at stake is exemplified by Rose Kaunda, a small-scale farmer, entrepreneur, employer, and widow with five children. On her 4-acre farm in rural Kenya, crop diseases are a constant threat to her family and livelihood. 2Blades’ work is helping to bring resilient crops to farmers like Rose - through powerful tools to breed plants that better withstand diseases, pests, and climate shocks – thereby safeguarding crops, food security, and livelihoods for millions.
We’re grateful to Make It Better for recognizing 2Blades’ efforts and helping to bring greater awareness and support to a challenge that affects us all.
Read entire article here: A Silent Crisis Is Undermining Global Food Security — These Scientists Have a Solution