Keynote Listeners
Our Keynote Listeners play an integral role in summarising and communicating the key take home messages from our conference each year.
Shortly after the event they will release a succinct summary for those looking for an overview of what they heard or a snapshot of what they missed.
Our Keynote Listeners are sourced from our Researchers in Agriculture for International Development (RAID) Network – the Australia-based network that brings together early to mid-career researchers with an interest in agriculture and international development.
RAID’s support is also key to the successful delivery of our conference scholar program, assisting with our scholar activities and mentoring some of the scholars. Most of our conference scholars go on to be members of the RAID Network, a program of the Crawford Fund for Food Security.
Our RAID Keynote Listeners in 2026 are:
Krishna Chaitanya Alamuru
Krishna is the secretary of RAID Network, a 2024–26 Plantae Fellow with the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) and a PhD candidate at the Centre for Crop Health, University of Southern Queensland, where his research focuses on plant pathology, genomics, and disease resistance in mungbean. His PhD investigates host–pathogen interactions, including tan spot, a bacterial disease, and powdery mildew, a fungal disease affecting mungbean.
Krishna has received several recognitions for his research and science communication, including multiple best presentation awards at the Centre for Crop Health HDR Symposium and the Broad Acre Cropping Initiative Lightning Talks, as well as recognition through ASPB and international plant science networks. Through his research and professional service, he aims to contribute to sustainable agriculture, crop improvement, and stronger global connections in agricultural research.
As a keynote listener, Krishna is excited to engage with the conference themes, reflect on the key messages from speakers and delegates, and help communicate these insights to a wider audience interested in agriculture, food security, and international development.
Manita Raut
Manita is a development researcher whose work focuses on water governance, agriculture, climate resilience, and social inclusion. Growing up in a farming family in Nepal sparked her interest in understanding how people access and use water, land, and technology, and how these shape livelihoods and opportunities for farming communities.
She recently submitted her PhD at the Australian National University as a John Allwright Fellow, where her research explored how access to groundwater irrigation is shaped by social, institutional, and material factors. Before her PhD, she spent more than six years with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), contributing to research on irrigation, water security, climate adaptation, gender equity, and agricultural livelihoods across South Asia and East Africa.
Throughout her career, Manita has worked with transdisciplinary and multicultural teams across research, policy, and development practice. She is currently involved with both the RAID Network and the Crawford Fund’s Research Leaders Collective, supporting researcher engagement and capacity development. She is passionate about connecting research with practice and believes that inclusive, collaborative approaches are essential for developing practical solutions to the complex challenges facing agriculture, water, and food systems today.