Crawford Fund Henzell Awards
In 2024, the Crawford Fund’s NextGen suite of activities to encourage the next generation of Australians in agriculture for development welcomed a much-appreciated new component.
With the support of Ted and Frances Henzell and family, the Crawford Fund is now offering national awards to fund brief visits by Australian undergraduate students to international agricultural research projects in developing tropical countries in the Asia Pacific Region, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Madagascar.
The Crawford Fund Henzell Awards will enable visits by Australian undergraduate students to international agricultural research projects to encourage even more interest in studies and careers related to food security and ultimately to grow the number of Australians involved in international agricultural research.
Applications for the first Henzell Awards will open later in 2024, coinciding with the launch of the 2025 Crawford Fund Student Awards. The new awards will be available to Australian citizens or permanent residents who are at least in their second year studying at the undergraduate level at an Australian university.
Reflecting the need for a multi-disciplinary team to take on the task to improve food and nutrition security, students can be studying in any area of relevance to food production and food and nutrition security.
In this short video produced by Ted’s son John, Ted explains his thinking behind offering to support the Crawford Fund Henzell Awards:
About Ted Henzell
Ted Henzell has been recognised with the Centenary Medal and Officer of the Order of Australia for contributions to agricultural science. The Crawford Fund had the pleasure of launching Ted’s book Australian agriculture: its History and Challenges back in 2007. An extended interview we organised for Ted and the Crawford Fund’s then Executive Director, Dr Bob Clements, on Radio National can be found here.
A long career in CSIRO and then international consulting convinced Ted of the benefit to Australians in getting overseas experience. Noting the limited opportunities for undergraduates to get international experience, and with his own initial experience of working in developing countries being a real eye-opener, he realised the importance of learning about local differences.
