Kathy Kahn is a senior program officer at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in their Agricultural Development Program. We spoke to her about the threat posed to wheat farmers and global food security by stem, yellow, and leaf rust. She told us about the need to deliver varieties that have the characteristics that farmers require, including cooking qualities, heat tolerance, drought tolerance, and resistance to other stresses. She described the Gates Foundation’s emphasis on protecting the sustainable productivity of resource poor farmers in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. Lastly, Kathy explained to us the need for more funding for agricultural research to protect the world’s food supply.

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