The Hon
John Kerin AM FTSE (Chair)
Dr Tony
Fischer AM (Coordinator)
Dr Wendy
Craik FTSE
Dr Joanne
Daly FTSE
Dr Tim
Healy
Professor
John Lovett
Dr Jim Ryan
The Fund’s Australian Capital Territory Program was established in 2006. Its location in Canberra provides a great opportunity to work with several Departments and Agencies of the Australian Government including ACIAR. And with a number of the peak bodies of Australian agricultural, forestry and fisheries industries, with eminent researchers in scientific organisations and universities based in the nation’s capital.
The geographic focus of the Program is Papua New Guinea, Pacific Island countries and East Timor. Training activities in other countries are supported on a case-by-case basis.
Training activities reflect Canberra’s strength in research on forestry, agricultural policy, economics, molecular biology, entomology natural resources management and national regulation of agricultural matters such as quarantine, water and GM crop releases.
PNG Women in Agriculture Update
An update on the report in the last newsletter on the Crawford Fund supported training visit in August 2009 by eight of the leading women working in the PNG agricultural industry. They spent 10 days investigating how cooperation, shared research and trade can benefit both PNG and Australia.
In Canberra they met with The Hon Bob McMullan, Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance to talk about how Australian aid can better target women and small landholders. Mr McMullan gave a commitment to host a ‘Roundtable’ in 2010 in PNG with the intention of discussing how more support can be given to the women in their efforts to reduce poverty. We are pleased to report that the PNG Women in Agriculture Development Foundation (PNGWiADF), with support from AusAID, hosted the roundtable meeting on possible organizational support towards PNG women in the agriculture sector. With the theme “Recognizing Women’s Agricultural Innovations Through Dialogue”, the immediate outcome the PNGWiADF hopes to achieve from the roundtable forum held from 29–31 March 2010 in Lae is to establish collaboration and partnerships with various stakeholders, government agencies and donor partners to fund and/or implement components of the PNGWiADF Strategic Plan.
(L to R) Poela utama, Kwina Ambang, Louise Aitsi, Maria Linibi, Barbara Tomi meet with The Hon Tim Mulherrin, Minister for Primary Industries and Fisheries (centre) and the Acting Assistant Director General Malcolm Letts (left) during their August visit to Brisbane.