AFI Monthly Update: October 2023
Australian Farm Institute
An independent institute leading farm policy discussions for Australian agriculture.
Beyond $100B: Connecting Australia's Agrifood Strategies
Our annual Roundtable was successfully held on 17 October in Canberra and online. Cooperation and partnerships between diverse stakeholders are clearly essential to address complex agricultural and food system challenges, and attendees reaffirmed their commitment to improving collaboration. Workshop discussions highlighted concerns about inefficiencies and duplication in strategic efforts across the sector. The issue of hyper-focusing on specific aspects of agriculture, rather than considering the broader flow and interoperability of the system, was also identified as a key challenge.
The AFI team are working to provide session recordings, presentations, and workshop summaries to conference attendees. If you registered to attend, keep an eye out for an email in the next few weeks with details on access. We will also produce high-level summaries in upcoming publications, including actions for AFI to take forward on better connecting Australia’s agrifood strategies.
Thank you to our speakers, facilitators and attendees, as well as event sponsor Australian Pork Limited .
Congratulations to essay comp. winners!
The topic for this year’s John Ralph Essay Competition was: What degree of government intervention is required to future-proof Australian food and agriculture? The winners for 2023 were announced at the recent Roundtable, with congratulations going to:
Jessica and Brendan’s winning entries will be published in the Farm Policy Journal before the end of the year. Learn more about the essay competition and its history here.
Calling all producers – check your soil connectivity score!
Global research has identified five indicators against which soil security can be assessed, one of which is human connectivity. The SIA Sydney and AFI are conducting research to gain a better understanding of producers’ relationships with their soil and how this can be measured.
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This self-assessment evaluation will not only help the research teams with this groundbreaking research on soil science but also provide you a personalised soil connectivity report. Check it out, and pass it on to your friends!
Leading farm policy discussions abroad
AFI’s Executive Director Richard Heath and General Manager Katie McRobert (MBA, GAICD) have been busy in Rome, Paris and Brussels as part of a series of meetings in the EU on agricultural sustainability policy. The trip has included participation in the 51st UN Committee on World Food Security meeting in Rome and the inaugural Global Forum on Farm Policy and Innovation (GFFPI) workshop on sustainability and ag trade at OECD Paris, co-convened by the AFI. Special Representative for Australian Agriculture Su McCluskey opened the GFFPI workshop, which was also supported by the Dutch and Japanese governments.
Travelling with a representative of the National Farmers' Federation , the AFI/NFF group is particularly focussing on demonstrating the principles-based, holistic approach taken in the?Australian Agricultural Sustainability Framework.
The AFI is proud to be a founding member of GFFPI and contributing to increasing knowledge and understanding of key gaps and opportunities to deliver better outcomes for more sustainable agriculture around the world.
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