2025 Conference Program
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SIR JOHN CRAWFORD MEMORIAL ADDRESS AND NETWORKING DINNER
The Hon Joel Fitzgibbon, Crawford Fund Board member
“Trade-offs and Tough Choices: Lessons in Leadership from the Frontlines of Policy”
Monday 11 August 2025, 6:00pm-9:00pm, The Great Hall, Parliament House
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CRAWFORD FUND CONFERENCE
PROGRESS AND PROSPECTS FOR CLIMATE-RESILIENT AGRIFOOD SYSTEMS:
Actionable Recommendations for Policymakers and Practitioners
Tuesday 12 August 2025, The Great Hall, Parliament House
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08.30 REGISTRATION
09.00 OPENING SESSION – WELCOME
The Hon John Anderson AC, FTSE Chair, The Crawford Fund
09.15 MINISTERAL OPENING
09.30 SESSION 1: KEYNOTE
Dr Rachel Chicwamba, ACIAR Policy Advisory Council and CGIAR Integrated Partnership Board and Group Executive: Chemicals, Agriculture, Food and Health Division, The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), South Africa
09.55 MODERATED Q&A
10.10 SESSION 2: RECONCILING INCREASED FOOD PRODUCTION
WITH THE GLOBAL IMPERATIVE TO REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS
Overview: Prof Richard Eckard, Professor of Carbon Farming at the University of Melbourne and National program leader in the Carbon Research Centre for Net Zero Agriculture
10.30 Case studies:
Low emissions solutions for rice, and the way forward
Dr Ando Radanielson, Senior Scientist, International Rice Research Institute
Legal Issues on the path to net-zero carbon emissions
Ms Caitlin McConnel, Australian Farmer & Lawyer
Climate services for agriculture in Australia and the Pacific
Dr Leanne Webb, Science Lead, Asia-Pacific Climate Intelligence, CSIRO
Carbon and financial performance and opportunities of sylvopastoral systems
Dr Tyron Venn, Senior Research Fellow, School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability, University of Queensland
11.10 MODERATED Q&A SESSION 2
11.25 MORNING TEA
12.00 SESSION 3: ACHIEVING A PATHWAY TO CLIMATE RESILIENCE: LESSONS FROM
THE ASIA PACIFIC
An Overview on Asia
Dr Aditi Mukherji, Director, Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation Impact Action Platform of the CGIAR
An Overview on the Pacific
Professor Graham Sem, Environmental Science & Geography Discipline Lead, University of Papua New Guinea
12.35 GUIDED DISCUSSION BY SHAUN COFFEY, CEO, CRAWFORD FUND
13.00 LUNCH
14.00 SESSION 4: RESILIENCE THROUGH EQUITY, INCLUSION AND COMMUNITY
PARTICIPATION
Overview: Dr Purnima Menon, Senior Director, Food and Nutrition Policy and Acting Senior Director, Transformation Strategies, IFPRI
14.20 Case studies:
Pathways to build a gender inclusive and climate resilient food sector in Cambodia
Assoc Prof Sonia Aktar, Senior Lecturer, Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU
Including women’s voices in climate and environment governance in Timor Leste
Mr Acacio Sarmento da Silva, Senior Research Analyst, WorldFish
Gender roles and women’s empowerment in dairy farming households, Indonesia
Ms Vyta Hanifah, PhD Candidate, Centre for Global Food and Resources, School of Economics and Public Policy, University of Adelaide and Researcher in National Research and Innovation Agency, Indonesia
Fourth Case Study TBC, Pacific
15.10 MODERATED Q&A
15.25 AFTERNOON TEA
16.05 CONVERSATION ON RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICYMAKERS
AND PRACTITIONERS
Prof Wendy Umberger, CEO, ACIAR
16.35 MODERATED Q&A
16.50 CLOSING REMARKS
17.00 CLOSE