The Crawford Fund’s annual conference on food security, which holds the key place in the development and food security calendar, will this year be held during the Parliamentary sitting week of 10-12 August 2015 in Canberra, Australia.

The conference will focus on the importance of collaboration and partnership between the public and private sectors to achieve sustainable intensification and improved food security. The reason for our focus on the private sector this year is that we believe meeting future food demand within the limits of the earth’s natural resources is a pressing challenge with critically important roles for both the public and private sectors. Innovation underpinned by targeted research investment is critical to achieve sustainable intensification of agricultural production.

“We see that new visions are needed for both the public and private sectors to maintain sustainability while ensuring profitability for those relying on and contributing to food security. We want this year’s conference to help shape these longer term visions.

The Hon John Kerin AM
Chairman, The Crawford Fund

The conference will connect with business to explore new directions in research and sustainable sourcing already being taken by the private sector and to assess the implications of this for public policy and a new generation of public private partnerships.

Keynote speakers include:

• Mr Chris Brett – Senior Vice President, Head of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, Olam International
• Mr Anthony Pratt – Chairman and CEO of Pratt Industries and Global Chairman of Visy Industries
• Her Excellency Gerda Verburg – Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the UN Organizations for Food and Agriculture, Chair of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and Chair of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Food and Nutrition Security

For more information, please visit the website of the Crawford Fund.