Crawford Medal Oration, 2019 Lindsay Falvey

International Agricultural R&D
‘NextGen’ Scientists Needed to Build on Historic Successes of Agriculture R4D
Huge Successes + Need for More
= NextGen
Lindsay Falvey
Vertical-Housed-Logo (722×722)
Building 7, Unit 7/1 Dairy Road,
Fyshwick, ACT 2609, Australia
+61 2 6280 8611
World Food Day
26 October

What is Food Security?
MalnutritionVertical-Housed-Logo (722×722)
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World Agriculture Today
Ex-USSR + New World: main food exporters
Western Europe: more than sufficient
Populous Asia: average sufficiency
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) + West Asia-North Africa (WANA):
low yield, high animal mortality, food importers Grain
Prod’n
price

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Fifty Successful Years
• famine averted
• >30% of the world hungry in 1960s; today around
15%.
• Population doubled; an extra 3 billion people fed
• aid + civil organizations + national governments
• policy, yields, vaccines, NRM, nutrition, etc
• Australians highly represented - as should continue

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Huge Success:
- 3 billion extra fed in 50 years
- reduced malnutrition
What Worked? Integrated R4D
Intensifying
staple food
production
Integrating
people and
the
environment
Expanding
the role of
markets
Diversifying
out of major
cereals
Reforming
economy-
wide policies
Improving
food quality
and human
nutrition

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Wheat Rust: 117 million hectares protected; >60 million households food secure
Asia 1965-85: income up 190%; food security for 1.8 billion
Improved Maize: now 75% of land under cereal cultivation
Cassava Mosaic Virus & Mealybug: yields up 40%; 29 million fed
Re-Greening the Sahel: > 5 million hectares transformed; 3 million additional people fed Successes
Argentina Pampas: 22 million hectares sustainable; world leader in soybean production
Indo-Gangetic Plain: 1.8 million hectares; income gains $340 per household
Bangladesh: 67% reduction in well costs; doubled rice production; 22 million more fed
China: Yield increases of 15-31%; 63% of rice is hybrids; 60 million more fed
Land-tenure reform in China 1978-84: grain up 34%; incomes by 137%
www.ifpri.org/millionsfed
Transforming Agriculture
The Green Revolution in Asia
1965–1985
• Challenge:
• Innovation:
• Impact:
Author: Peter B. R. Hazell
Asia facing enormous food deficits and threat of famine in
the 1950s
Breeding and dissemination of improved rice/wheat varieties,
investment in irrigation and roads, and supportive policies
Doubling of cereal yields and output, 1970-95; per capita
income increases by 190%; improved food security
for 1.8 billion people
IRRI

zonosis
calories
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2011
FAO declares
eradicated
Virus decoded;
2019 Pirbright
destroys stocks
k disease killing 95% of the animals
ss Asia and Africa
o develop improved vaccine,
protect livestock-based livelihoods
ease has been eradicated since
ivestock keepers benefitted
PeterRoeder

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07/01/2019 Figureofthew eek:UnderstandingpovertyinA frica
https://w w w.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2018/11/21/figure-of-the-w eek-understanding-poverty-in-africa/ 4/7

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Nutrition
Poverty
Ecosystem
On 25 September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly formally adopted the universal,
integrated and transformative 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, along with a set of
17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 associated targets

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IAR = ARI + NRI + CGIAR + CABI + WV + + +
(WB, RegDBs, BRICs, UN, Philanth’ts, NGOs, …)
ACIAR = Australia’s Globally Unique IAR Mechanism
---------------------------------------------
Crawford Fund for IAR

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Q. Why Did It Work?
A. Integration of Diverse Factors
 Science and technology
 Complementary investments
 Private incentives
 Cooperation and collaboration
 Timing and planning
 Experimentation and evolution
 Community involvement
 Leadership and dedication continuing
challenges

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It Worked
Integration of Diverse Factors
 Science and technology
 Complementary investments
 Private incentives
 Cooperation and collaboration
 Timing and planning
 Experimentation and evolution
 Community involvement
 Leadership and dedication
Yet: 1 billion malnourished
- Progress faltered: food price crisis
and global economic downturn
- Sub-Saharan Africa, malnutrition
doubled
- South Asia, 314 million remain
malnourished

malnutrition
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13/09/2019 TheCycleof Undernutrition |Understanding Malnutrition |Poshan |Nutrition, Food, Poverty, Malnutrition, Undernourishment, Obesity, Overweight |IAP HealthPhone™ Nutrition Education Programmefor Mothersand C…
iap.healthphone.org/the-cycle-of-undernutrition.html 2/5

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Figure1.Biofortifiedcrops bredbyCGIARCenters andpartners
SWEET POTATO
Vitamin A
CASSAVA
Vitamin A
MAIZE
Vitamin A
Zinc
BANANA/
PLANTAIN
Vitamin A
BEANS
Iron
PEARL MILLET
Iron
COWPEA
Iron
Zinc
IRISH POTATO
Iron
Zinc
SORGUM
Iron
Zinc
LENTIL
Iron
Zinc
WHEAT
Zinc
RICE
Zinc
Click on each crop picture to see the breeding program
isattheheartofthecontinuedeffort to
improveOFSPvarietiestomeet farmerand
ABF

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Connecting the Milk Grid
Smallholder dairy in India
1970–1996
• Challenge:
• Innovation:
• Impact:
Author: Kenda Cunningham
Dairy demand outpacing supply; smallholders unable to
access national dairy markets
Creation of a national milk grid and organization of dairy
cooperatives to improve production and marketing
India becomes a top global dairy producer; incomes double
for 9 million direct beneficiaries, 73% of whom are
landless farmers
NDDB
Farming the Aquatic Chicken
Improved tilapia in the Philippines
1988–1997
• Challenge:
• Innovation:
• Impact:
Author: Sivan Yosef
Overuse and overexploitation of marine fish stocks
endangers fish supplies
Selective breeding and wide distribution of genetically
improved tilapia within the region
Production increases of 186%; lower prices for tilapia
benefitting 19-23 million consumers
WorldFish

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estock the CGIAR Global Challenges and the SDG
Provides food and nutritional security
BUT overconsumption is often associated with
obesity and non-communicable diseases
Powers economic development
BUT equitable development can be a challenge
Improves human health
BUT animal-human/emerging diseases
and unsafe foods need to be addressed
Enhances the environment
BUT pollution, land/water degradation,
GHG emissions and biodiversity losses
must be greatly reduced
Why Animal Research?
Nutrition: FAO - 20 g/person/day animal
protein (1½ eggs)
Income: Dr Jacob Mignouna, Togo
Mobility: move as local climate changes
Integration: Crop-Livestock Systems

Conception to >1000 days animal-source food for:
vitamin A/retinol (absorbed at 20 times faster than plant beta-carotene); heme iron (absorbed
twice as readily as non-heme plant iron); vitamin B12 (from anaerobic bacteria found only in
animal-sourced foods), choline (for neurotransmission, memory, learning and gene expression).
“Global efforts to limit or reduce the consumption of
meat, milk and eggs over environmental concerns should
exclude pregnant and breastfeeding women and babies
under the age of two, especially in low-income settings
where other sources of protein and micronutrients are
not available or not customarily used.”
Grace, D. et al
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Current & Future Needs
• Health
• Climate Change
• Environment
• Migration
• Employment
• Production
• Sustainable Intensification: crops & livestock, recycling nutrients, emissions
• Genetic Modification: pests & diseases, climate adaptation, micronutrients
• Agricultural Education: integrated knowledge, applied research capacity
SSA & WANA:
all above + e.g. yield gap, livestock mortality & reproduction, policy SSA climate
The world’s food system is at the center of
humanity’s greatest challenges
Health
Climate & Environment
Migration
2016 saw the first increase in the number of chronically undernourished people – more than 800 million
people remain malnourished and two billion people suffer from micronutrient deficiencies.
Climate shocks put the most vulnerable at risk. Agriculture is the main driver of deforestation and land
degradation, and plays a major role in water pollution. 28% of the world's farmland produces food that
is never consumed.
Food insecurity affects stability. There is a strong link between drought, famine, food prices and conflict.
Youth unemployment in rural areas drives unplanned urbanization and political instability.
Jobs
There is tremendous potential for agriculture-led economic growth. 78% of the world’s poor rely on
agriculture for food and livelihoods. Women comprise 43% of the developing country workforce in
agriculture, but lack access to resources.
Production
Demand is outpacing supply and innovation. Yield increases of staple crops have flatlined, unable to
keep pace with a growing population and increasing demand.

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double R$D &
faster adoption
CF

+61 2 6280 86112 July 2019
Next Gen:
- Int. Scholarships
- IAR Volunteering
- Int. Conferences
- IAR Mentors curiosity

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To summarize:
• Integrated & contextualized
• Malnourishment ???? Education  Development
• Yields, pest & disease, zoonoses, AMR, safe foods, recycling, policy
• All within more rapid climate change
• Old/current generation experience ≠ NewGen
• Newgen: intercultural, integrationists = ???

+61 2 6280 8611
To summarize:
• Integrated & contextualized
• Malnourishment ???? Education  Development
• Yields, pest & disease, zoonoses, AMR, safe foods, recycling, policy
• All within more rapid climate change
• Old/current generation experience ≠ NewGen
• Newgen: intercultural, integrationists = the world is in good hands

Crawford Medal Oration, 2019 Lindsay Falvey

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Crawford Medal Oration, 2019 Lindsay Falvey