Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation International rural R&D Beth Woods Member, Australian Rural R&D Council

2 © The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2010 Context: Increasing concern about food insecurity Contributing forces –Growing global population –Changing food consumption patterns –Biofuels & other non-food industries Current global financial crisis + future risk of climate change impacts Impacts –Increasing numbers of hungry people – currently about 1 billion –Increasing risk of recurring food crises –Loss of some MDG gains in health & education –Risks to national & international security

3 © The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2010 Role of international R&D for agriculture? To stimulate development of the agriculture sector & wider economic growth To work in parallel with other policy interventions & investments

4 © The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2010 World Bank typology of agriculture in economic development Agriculture based economies Transforming economies Urbanised economies Reference: The World Bank (2008) Agriculture for Development: World development report 2008

5 © The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2010 International centres of the CGIAR

6 © The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2010 Important current features: International agricultural R4D Agricultural economies Sub Saharan Africa Transforming economies India, China, Indonesia, Vietnam Urbanised economies Latin America National R&D investment Small investment Weak capacity Mixed investment Evidence of industry benefits where R&D investment has grown Relatively higher investment & capacity Trend: flat or small increase International R&D focus High – CGIAR & philanthropic ModerateLimited & targeted Private sector R&D Very lowIn early stages Varied but important in larger markets R&D priorities Increasing smallholder farmers’ productivity in a sustainable way A wider range of products; Productivity + quality+ pest mgmt/ biosecurity Labour saving Environment Increased productivity Meet environmental challenges & supply chain requirements Non-food + food focus R&D capacityApplied agric & vet science Wider range of science skills Increasing emphasis on specialist science inputs

7 © The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2010 Emerging issues Slowing investment in R&D & slowing increase in productivity –Declining recruitment of scientists –Ageing infrastructure Institutional issues –New sources of international funding - BMGF –Fragmentation & high transaction costs (donors & providers) –Ageing institutional arrangements (& reforms e.g. CGIAR)

8 © The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2010 Official development assistance to agriculture

9 © The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2010 Emerging issues Growing emphasis on climate change adaptation research Increasing focus on the gender dimension – in agriculture & R&D Synchronising other investments & policy development with opportunities flowing from research –priority of removing trade barriers

10 © The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2010 Emerging issues in common with Australia Slowing investment in R&D & slowing increase in productivity –Declining recruitment of scientists –Ageing infrastructure Institutional issues – fragmentation (donor and provider) –ageing institutional arrangements (reforms?) Growing emphasis on climate change adaptation research Increasing focus on the gender dimension – in agriculture & R&D Synchronising other investments & policy development with opportunities flowing from research; priority of removing trade barriers

11 © The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2010 Interfaces with international R&D: where to from here? Accessing outputs of international R&D vs Australian R&D for unique conditions –A case by case approach –Led by whom and with what currency Maintaining the quality & competitiveness of Australian R&D –Increasing opportunities & removing barriers Contributing to international R&D needs –ACIAR –AusAID –Sharing costs and/or exploiting IP

12 © The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, 2010 Assumptions Demand & supply (↑pop + ↑av diet qual = X 2 Σfood) from (less land + less water under CC) Changing markets New urban/ rural balance as well as tropical/ temperate Multiple product streams From (A or B or C) to (A + B + C…) sus with longer supply chains A CASE STUDY: 2030/2050 Opportunities & challenges for Queensland + other tropical locations

13 © The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation, /2050 Opportunities & challenges (for Queensland +) BEEF E ↑ demand for protein High value biproducts esp health C-economy/ systems mgt Genetics/ vaccines Virtual mgmt/ sensors Governance systems/ biosecurity ↑ Sweetener Bioenergy C4 Bio industrials Genetics/ IP IPM systems Trop food ingredients ↑ Veg & trop fruit Functional foods/ health Genetics/ IP Lifestyle/ landscape hort for trop cities SUGAR E RESILIENT HORT D..E …FORESTRY …AQUACULTURE Bio-processing technols ENVIRONMENT