Sir John Crawford
The Crawford Fund was named in honour of Sir John Crawford. Sir John was a remarkable Australian who contributed at the highest levels to the development of Australia and other countries, and was a passionate supporter of international agricultural research for development.
He was one of the architects of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) - a Statutory Authority that commissions collaborative international research into improving sustainable production in developing countries. Sir John was the first Chair of ACIAR's Board.
He was also a strong advocate for the development of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) - an association of public and private members supporting agricultural research centres that mobilise cutting edge science to reduce hunger and poverty, improve human nutrition and health, and protect the environment. Sir John was the first Chairman of the CGIAR's Technical Advisory Committee.
Further reading on Sir John Crawford: "Policy & Practice: Essays in Honour of Sir John Crawford" edited by L T Evans and J D B Miller. ANU Press. 217 pp $35.
The Sir John Crawford Fellowship is awarded once every year.
The Sir John Crawford Memorial Lecture has been held since 1985, in honour of the distinguished Australian civil servant, educator and agriculturalist in whose name the Crawford Fund was established. Addresses and presenters are listed below with links where available:
Plant Diversity at a Turning Point. Professor Stephen D Hopper FLS, Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. August 2010.
Sir John Crawford Memorial Address. The Hon Bob McMullan, Parliamentary Secretary, International Development Assistance, Member for Fraser. August 2009.
The Great Use-it-or-Lose-it Intelligence Test. Dr. William H. Calvin, Affiliate Professor of Psychiatry and Behaviour Sciences, University of Washington, School of Medicine, Seattle. December 2007.
Food for All: a Challenge for the 21st Century. The Hon Anne-Marie Lizin, President, Belgian Senate; Chair, Senate Foreign Relations and Defense Committee. October 2006.
The Dimension of Science and Technology for Development: Perspective from the Maghreb. Dr. (Ms.) Zohra ben Lakhdar, Professor of Physics, University of Tunis. December 2005.
The Mystery of Capital: The Role of Property Rights in Creating Wealth and Alleviating Poverty. Mr Hernando de Soto, President, Institute for Liberty and Democracy, Lima, Peru. October 2004.
Fulfilling the Promise: the Role for Agricultural Research. The Hon Susan Whelan, Minister for International Cooperation, Canada. October 2003.
Ecological Sustainability and Food Security: Challenges and Opportunities. Dr. Mohamed T. El-Ashry, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, Global Environment Facility. October 2002.
Feeding the World, Sustaining the Earth: The Critical Importance of Population Issues. Dr Nafis Sadik, Special Adviser, United Nations Secretary-General. October 2001.
Genomics: From Microbes to Man. Mr. J. Craig Venter, President, Celera Genomics. October 2000.
Reviving Global Poverty Reduction: what role for genetically modified plants? Dr. Michael Lipton, Research Professor, Economics, Poverty Research Unit, Sussex University, UK. October 1999.
Harnessing Science to Solve Global Poverty and Hunger. Professor Peter Doherty, Member, Department of Immunology (Michael F. Tamer Chair of Biomedical Research), St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee. October 1998.
The Challenge of Development and Poverty Reduction in Africa. Mr. Omar Kabbaj, President, African Development Bank. October 1997.
The CGIAR at Twenty-Five: Looking Back and Looking Forward. Mr. Maurice F. Strong, Senior Advisor to President of the World Bank Group. October 1996.
Global Governance and New Dimensions of Human Security. Sir Shridath Ramphal, Co-Chair of the Commission on Global Governance. October 1995.
Agriculture and Food Needs to 2025 : Why we Should be Concerned. Dr. Alex F. McCalla, Chair, Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), CGIAR; Director, Agriculture and Natural Resources Department, World Bank. October 1994.
Towards Sustainable Food Security. Mr. James Gustave Speth, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme. October 1993.
Agricultural Development in Latin America and the Role of Research and Technological Change : an Overview. Dr. Enrique Iglesias, President, Inter-American Development Bank. October 1992.
The CGIAR at Twenty: Relevance Reaffirmed October 1991. a public symposium commemorating 20 years of the CGIAR. Speakers were Mr. Wilfiied P. Thalwitz, fifth chairman of the CGIAR and the World Banks Senior Vice President for Policy, Research and External Affairs: Mr. Robert W. Herdt, Director, Division for Agricultural Sciences, the Rockefeller Foundation; and Mr. E. Walter Coward Jr., Director, Rural Poverty and Resources Program, the Ford Foundation. Mr. Derek E. Tribe, Executive Director of Australia’s Crawford Fund for International Agricultural Research, presided.
Changing Nature of the Food Security Challenge: Implications for Agricultural Research and Policy. Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, Chair, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Tamil Nadu, India. November 1990.
The Challenge of Agricultural Development in Africa. Dr. Jacques Diouf, Special Adviser, Central Bank for West African States, Dakar, Senegal. November 1989.
Agricultural Development, Growth
and Equity, Forty Years of Experience"
Helen Hughes, November 1988.
Food and Freedom. Professor Amartya Sen, Lament University Professor, Harvard University. October 1987.
Hope for African Agriculture. Dr Bukar Shaib, Minister of Agriculture, Water Resources and Rural Development, Nigeria. November 1986.
The Challenges for Sub-Saharan Africa. Robert S. McNamara, (former) President, World Bank (to 1981). November 1985.