Tanzania: Bill Gates Hails Dar's 'Cassava Man'

AMERICAN billionaire Bill Gates has found a meeting of the minds in Dr Joseph Ndunguru, a plant scientist who once turned down offers to a well paying job in South Africa, and preferred instead to conduct research at home that would connect state-of-the-art science with the needs of his people.

The two men - one the world's richest, and the other largely unheard of even at home - have one parallel thread in common: to make a difference in a world of extreme wealth and abject poverty, an apparent contradiction in terms, but one for which simple solutions to people in need could be 'magical.'

This is revealed in the 2012 Annual Letter from Bill Gates highlighting the global work of the Melinda and Bill Gates Foundation that singles out the exemplary dedication of one Tanzanian scientist to his country and his determination to use his knowledge locally while applying global perspectives to improve the lot of his people. Continue reading