The Gates Foundation (sponsors of GOOD's health coverage), major international funders, and the governments of the India and the United Kingdom launched a new $35 million research initiative to improve food security in developing countries . The goal of this initiative seeks to improve the sustainability of vital food staples. Concerns around the stability of food supplies are mounting as the human population is projected to reach 9 billion by 2050. The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council reported that the $35 million initiative award will be granted to scientists over the next 5 to 10 years with the expressed goal to "investigate ways to improve the disease-resistance and stress-tolerance of staple crops in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia."