Facing the Global Food Crisis, Using trade and aid for a food secure world

March 26, 2014

You are invited to a free forum in Sydney on 18 March to hear from some of the remarkable people from NSW who are delivering training and research projects overseas, with major benefits to developing countries and also to NSW, and to discuss how, together, we can accelerate a virtuous cycle of further improvement. This event follows the launch of our “Doing Well by Doing Good” report late last year, and our ongoing efforts to raise awareness of the benefits to Australia and developing countries from international agricultural research and the work of the Fund.

“Facing the Global Food Crisis: Using Trade and Aid for a Food Secure World” is being held in NSW Parliament House Theatrette, Macquarie Street Sydney on 18 March from 2.30-5.30pm. The program is here Facing the Global Food Crisis – Program March 18, 2014

Global food security remains a pressing issue despite huge advances in recent years.  In some of our closest neighbouring countries, like Papua New Guinea and East Timor, childhood stunting due to malnutrition remains a severe problem, preventing whole societies from raising themselves out of poverty.

Human population is expected to increase to 9.6 billion by 2050 and Asia still accounts for 62 per cent of all undernourished people in the world. This poses ongoing threats to regional stability, emerging markets and trade. Along with the demand for better food from a burgeoning global middle class, it will place unprecedented stress on food supplies but also create opportunities for food and technology exporting countries such as Australia.

NSW makes enormous contributions to Australia’s effort at improving global food security.  Surprisingly, whilst we are a major food trading nation, our greatest help is through export of scientific technologies, created by over a century of agricultural research to improve our own food production.  This knowledge is now being applied in many developing countries to foster their sustainable agricultural systems, creating long-lasting goodwill which flows on to benefit our broader bilateral and trade relations.  And this agricultural research assists farmers not only in the developing world, but also here, to a value exceeding what we spend on it.

The Crawford Fund is part of the effort to translate this vast experience and goodwill to empower the farmers, scientists and communities in developing countries to solve their own problems, while at the same time benefiting the Australians and their institutions involved – we are, in effect, ‘Doing Well by Doing Good’.

The Crawford Fund, a not-for-profit organisation established over 25 years ago, helps some of our highly experienced scientists to pass on their knowledge and expertise in food production through training and mentoring of developing country scientists.  It operates with a tiny budget, achieving a tremendous multiplier on every dollar invested in our training, due to the goodwill and effectiveness of these scientists and the State committees who allocate the funds.

The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), through the aid program, engages Australian institutions in research partnerships with developing countries that contribute to economic growth here and abroad.

We would like to invite you to hear from some of the remarkable people from NSW who are delivering training and research projects overseas, through the Fund and ACIAR,  and to discuss how, together, we can accelerate a virtuous cycle of further improvement.

We do hope to welcome you to this important event.

Yours sincerely,