The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation plays a very significant role in supporting agricultural efforts in the developing world, but some critics contend that the grant maker holds too much power, reports The New York Times.

The foundation seeks to make agricultural markets work better. Working with the Rockefeller Foundation, the Gates fund has given $264-million to the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, and also $100-million to the Program for Africa’s Seed Systems, which seeks to develop seeds and establish a network of retail agricultural dealers to market them.

Not everyone welcomes the large-scale efforts of the Gates foundation.

Raj Patel, author of Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System, said it is not entirely clear what the fund is doing and that it lacks accountability. He said, “It seemed so up in the air. And of course while a public institution would have to be clear, they do not, and it’s hard not to feel that what we’re seeing is a foundation playing God in Africa.”

Gates foundation officials deny advancing a particular agenda. Mark Suzman, the foundation’s global development and advocacy director, said, “One of our goals is to get donors to rethink their commitment to agriculture in Africa — and African governments as well.”

(Read The Chronicle’s interview with the head of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.)