Crawford Fund Annual Conference 2024 - opening address

I begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which this conference takes place, the Ngunnawal people.

I also recognise any other people with connection to the lands of the ACT and region.

I pay my respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are attending this event.

I acknowledge the rich and ongoing contribution of First Nations people who for thousands of years have cared for country.

There is much to learn from First Nations people who have been involved in agriculture on this land for thousands of years.

Thank you for your introduction John.

It's a delight to be here and welcome you to Parliament House.

The Crawford Fund annual conference holds an important position as Australia's key international agricultural development and food security event.

I congratulate you on your thirty years of delivering this conference, and bringing national attention to critical food and nutrition security issues.

I would like to thank the team at the Crawford Fund for putting together a deeply relevant program on transformative partnerships, local leadership and co-design for food security. And I extend my thanks to the Crawford Fund Patrons and Board too.

I would like to acknowledge Dr Line Gordon, Director of the Stockholm Resilience Centre and Dr Ismahane Elouafi, Executive Managing Director, CGIAR. Very pleased to have you here.

And a big welcome to all our international guests from the Pacific, Southeast Asia and beyond. It's wonderful to have such strong expertise from around the world.

And I am delighted that Crawford Fund NextGen program participants and members of the RAID Network [early-mid career researchers] are attending too.

It's my pleasure to welcome you all on behalf of the Australian Government.

And I also have the honour to present the Crawford Fund Medal which I will come to shortly.

Agriculture and food security continue to be central to the Australian Government's development agenda.

With such a high number of people still facing food and nutrition insecurity, locally led solutions will be more important than ever.

Alarming figures released just a few weeks ago show we are not making progress on reducing food insecurity like we need to.

In 2023, 864 million people suffered from severe food insecurity – around 11 per cent of the world's population.

In our region, over half of the Pacific population experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in the 2021 to 2023 period with 44 per cent of Pacific children under 5 experiencing stunting in 2022.

And we cannot talk about food security without talking about climate change.

Climate change is impacting food security now.

From less predictable and longer periods of drought, to more intense storm and flood events, agricultural producers need to adapt their practices urgently.

The changing climate is accelerating pressure on global food security, threatening access, affordability and nutritional value of food supply.

Extreme weather threatens food and water security, with grave implications for global stability.

Farmers and producers across the globe and of all sizes are keenly aware of these changing conditions and are concerned about what this means for their livelihoods.

They experience firsthand these changes to their local environment.

And of course, it is not just farmers but also local policy makers, governments, businesses and other members of the community who need to grapple with these challenges now and into the future.

This year's conference theme goes to the heart of Australia's development approach and recognises the importance of locally led solutions.

Partnerships, local leadership and co-design.

It's fantastic to see the focus on these principles for this conference.

Our Australian international development policy champions locally led efforts to drive change.

As a development partner, Australia understands that the way we do development matters.

We know listening and responding to our partners' priorities matters.

As does growing partnerships - be that in research or between governments or with local civil society groups - to deliver outcomes.

The work of ACIAR – the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research - is a great example.

I am pleased to acknowledge the CEO of ACIAR, Professor Wendy Umberger who is with us today.

For well over 40 years, partnerships have been the foundation of ACIAR's success.

Fostering and implementing research collaborations and partnerships with organisations all over the world has led to stronger and more equitable agriculture, food, forestry and fishery systems; improved food and nutrition security; and more sustainable management of natural resources.

Australia is increasingly focussed on supporting our partners to mitigate and adapt to climate change and implement more resilient agricultural practices, improving food security and livelihoods.

We are working with governments, researchers, communities, smallholder farmers and other stakeholders in our partner countries to deliver their priorities in agriculture.

We do this by providing financial and technical assistance to our region to help build long-term food system resilience.

And so I am very pleased to announce Australia is investing a further $2.6 million into the Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees (CePaCT).

This investment supports the Pacific Community's regional genebank – ensuring the long-term conservation and distribution of key crops and trees of the Pacific.

With a changing climate, the ability to conserve a diverse range of food plants will mean Pacific countries can access food crops that are better adapted to new conditions.

This investment directly supports local scientific expertise and the regional architecture.

This is one of many investments we are making.

Our emphasis on climate partnerships is also on display through the Pacific Climate Infrastructure Financing Partnership, delivering off-grid renewable energy infrastructure to boost food security and rural livelihoods in remote Pacific islands.

When the scale of the challenge is immense, we need more solutions developed through partnerships, collaboration and cooperation.

So I hope you have many discussions today that lead to strong partnerships. It looks like a great program.

And I was particularly struck by the topic of the final session: Achieving Transformational Outcomes. Transformational is what it will take if we are to reach the Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger.

No one in today's modern world should suffer from hunger.

But food security goes beyond hunger alone.

It is connected to many of the challenges our world is facing, and it matters for Australia and for our region.

Improving food security is critical for stability; for stronger economic ties and opportunities for trade; for better health outcomes and for promoting innovative and sustainable solutions to build a safer and more resilient region – for us all.

Because of this I am very pleased to present the Crawford Fund Medal.

The Crawford Fund Medal recognises Australians who have made a considerable and continued contribution to international agricultural research.

And this year's highly deserving recipient is Dr Tony Fischer.

This award recognises his significant contribution to global wheat production and agricultural development.

Coming from a wheat–sheep farm at Boree Creek in southern New South Wales, Tony worked with Nobel Prize Laureate Dr Norman Borlaug, leading the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center's global wheat program.

He also made a substantial contribution to Australia's impact in international agricultural research through various roles with ACIAR, CSIRO, the Crawford Fund and ANU, mentoring and guiding many young scientists along the way.

Tony will be adding the Crawford Fund Medal to many esteemed awards including the C.M.Donald Medal, the William Farrer Memorial Medal and his Member of the Order of Australia.

I now call up Dr Fischer to receive this award.

Congratulations Dr Fischer.