Your Invitation to our 2026 Annual Conference
June 12, 2026
YOUR INVITATION TO OUR
2026 ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Emerging Voices Shaping Regional Integration for a Food Secure World
Monday 10 August
6pm – 9.30pm: Conference Networking Dinner
Great Hall, Parliament House
Tuesday 11 August
8.30am – 5.30pm: Conference
Great Hall, Parliament House
Registrations are now open, so please join us for a compelling 2026 Crawford Fund for Food Security Conference, Emerging Voices Shaping Regional Integration for a Food Secure World.
The Conference comes at a critical time in Australia and our broader regions’ food security journey. Australia is in the process of developing its first ever national food security strategy, and in coming months we will be partnering with our Pacific neighbours to find agri-climate solutions that will feed into crucial discussions at COP31 in Türkiye in November.
The Conference will feature debate around food security, climate and the impact of Australia’s investment in international agricultural research in supporting developing nations. It will explore how regional integration in agricultural research and innovation can strengthen food and nutrition security in a rapidly evolving geopolitical and climate environment.
A series of case studies from across the Indo-Pacific will highlight agriculture as a driver of climate adaptation, economic stability, and regional peace, showcasing research that delivers practical solutions for nutrition, sustainability, and community resilience.
We will also consider how the changing climate is increasingly impacting communities across our region, with a pre-COP31 panel that considers what implementation of agri-climate solutions actually looks like.
We are proud to announce that The Hon Julie Collins MP, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry will present the Conference Networking Dinner Keynote Address on Monday 10 August, 2026.
In addition to the Fund’s Chair, Ms Su McCluskey FCPA FTSE, conference speakers include:
- Keynote address: Dr Sandra Milach, Chief Scientist, CGIAR
- Keynote address: Dr Stefan Schmitz, Executive Director, Crop Trust
- Ms Victoria Anderson, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry
- Dr Tekini Nakidakida, Pacific policy action representative and Deputy Secretary Agriculture Department, Fiji, lead UNFCCC COP agriculture negotiator
- Ms Imelda ‘Dada’ Bacudo, FAO Convenor for Regional Momentum on Agri-climate Action & Contribution to NDCs
- Dr Himanshu Pathak, Director General, ICRISAT – Centre of Excellence for South-South Cooperation in Agriculture
- Ms Sally Higgins, Youth Climate Champion for COP31
- Dr Sally Box, Head, International Climate Negotiations Division, Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
- Prof Jaquie Mitchell, Discipline Lead – Crop Science of School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability & Director of Research of School of Agriculture and Food Sustainability, University of Queensland
- Adjunct Professor Soane Patolo Jr,Researcher, Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research and CEO MORDI Tonga Trust
- Dr Mohammed Mainuddin, Senior Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Environment
- Dr Dennis Beesigamukama, Postdoctoral Fellow, ICIPE
- Dr Tony Pattison, Senior-Principal Researcher, Queensland Department of Primary Industries
You can register here.
This year’s Conference will also be shining the spotlight on some of our up and coming early career researchers! Watch this space!
More details of the conference including the speaker profiles and program are available here. Once again, we are providing special discounts for students, concession cardholders, former scholars, RAID members and groups. The event will be streamed live for online participants. For more details about online pricing and other discounts, see here.
We look forward to seeing you at our 2026 conference to bring your insights to improve understanding, appreciation and impact for all our work and help us reach our vision of a food secure world where sustainable agriculture and resilient agri-food systems reduce hunger, malnutrition and poverty.
Thank you to our sponsors for their support too, particularly our major sponsors, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Grains Research and Development Corporation and CSIRO.
Please consider being a sponsor to have a presence at the event to show your support for, and involvement in, developing and transitioning partner country agricultural systems. Contact us for more details on sponsorship.
Please follow us on social media @CrawfordFund and use the conference hashtag #26CFConf
Conference Scholars
Our conference would not be the same without our conference scholars! We will be continuing our successful Conference Scholars Program, which started in 2010 and has received overwhelmingly positive feedback. The program this year not only offers 40 young researchers and scientists the opportunity to engage in the conference and the separate scholar activities, it also connects them with established specialists in their field to mentor them over the conference period. We hope many who attend the conference will volunteer as mentors or donate to the program when they are prompted in the registration process.
