The federal Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE) is hosting a series of online dialogues over the next two months to share ideas about how Australia is poised to address food systems challenges.
DAWE Assistant Secretary Matt Worrell said the online stakeholder sessions were a chance for interested parties to come together and share ideas ahead of a UN Food Systems Summit in September.
“We know that as populations grow, we need to be able to feed more people, support our farmers and consider impacts on our natural environment,” Worrell said.
“There will be five webinars in total. When complete, they will be a key part of Australia’s input into the Food Systems Summit.”
The first webinar, scheduled for 13 May, will include National Farmers Federation president Fiona Simon, University of Melbourne sustainable agriculture expert Professor Richard Eckard, and ANU College of Law’s Professor Andrew McIntosh. It will focus on how Australia can grow greener, both in terms of optimising food production and achieving a healthy environment.
“We’ll be discussing the need to produce more food with less environmental impact and what the solutions look like, such as innovation, technology, and the role market-based approaches can play,” Worrell said.
“We’re aiming for these discussions to be as open, transparent and representative as possible.”
The five webinars will run over May and June and interested people are invited to register to attend.
“These discussions will bring together policymakers, farmers, industry, academia and community groups to discuss ideas, opportunities and challenges facing food systems,” Worrell added.
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