Food for the Future Opportunities for a Crowded Planet

Mission To share and promote scientific and technological expertise in agricultural research and development that will increase sustainable global food production for the benefit of Australia and developing countries throughout the world. Mandate To assist poverty alleviation, increase food production and encourage environmental stability in the developing world through support for international research and development in agriculture and natural resource management. The Fund The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering established The Crawford Fund in June 1987. It was named in honour of the late Sir John Crawford and commemorates his outstanding services to international agricultural research. The Fund depends on grants and donations from governments, private companies, corporations, charitable trusts and individual Australians. It also welcomes partnerships with agencies and organisations in Australia and overseas. In all its activities the Fund seeks to support international R&D activities in which Australian companies and agencies are participants, including research centres sponsored by, or associated with, THE HON. TIM FISCHER MP is Chairman of the ATSE Crawford Fund Board of Governors. He is one of Australia's most highly regarded politicians. His long career in politics started after he left the Australian Army in 1970 and he began to raise the profile of rural Australia at the State, and then Federal level. he was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade. His interest and advocacy for Australia to become a trading superpower , especially in Asia, are well known. Mr Fischer retired from politics in June 1999 and continues to lend his considerable advocacy and political talents to chair the ATSE Crawford Fund's Board of Governors. The conference in 2002 was the eighth in an annual series established by the ATSE Crawford Fund to help raise awareness on the need for, and aims of, international agricultural research, and the important role that Australia plays in this. The speakers came from many organizations and sectors to help us to better understand some of the issues that surround Food for the Future and some of the opportunities that there are for a crowded planet. The names of the generous sponsors whose assistance was essential appear below. Two years ago, the then Chief of Australia's Defence Forces, Admiral Chris Barrie, stood on the Crawford Fund platform and advocated an investment in food security as a way of contributing to world peace. He said, 'If the circumstances of life are precarious enough, it is easy …