Monsanto Company has announced that it will provide 500 tons of conventional, hybrid maize seed to the flood-ravaged South African nation of Mozambique. The estimated commercial value of the seed is over $1 million (US) and is intended to provide enough food -- after harvest -- to feed approximately one million people for a year. The gift is one of the largest donations to the African nation by an American company.

The high-quality, high-yielding, conventional maize seed will be distributed through relief agencies, and is expected to provide a stable and sustainable food supply for the future. Monsanto Company's Agricultural business -- maker of the Roundup family of herbicides and other agricultural products and technologies -- made the gift five days after Monsanto Fund, the company's philanthropic arm, announced a $100,000 pledge to the country.

"This catastrophic disaster has affected countless numbers of families who depend on the nation's agricultural productivity,'' said Peter C. Turner, area director for Monsanto's agricultural business in Africa. "This gift will help stabilize the foundation of recovery by helping the people of Mozambique with the most essential basic need -- a stable food supply.''

Monsanto is committed to finding solutions to the growing global needs for food and health by sharing common forms of science and technology among agriculture, nutrition and health. The company's 29,719 employees worldwide research make and market high-value agricultural products, pharmaceuticals and food ingredients. 

Company news release
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