Food Security and Regional Australia

About

The aim of this SRA was to improve understanding of food system vulnerability in rural and regional Australia by, evaluating the adequacy of existing policy and planning responses to vulnerability and conducting research which contributes to the development of more sustainable and resilient food systems.

Food security is an issue of growing academic and political significance in Australia. However, there is little systematic analysis of Australian domestic food security in relation to rural and regional areas in Australia. This SRA is addressing this gap, enabling the Institute to develop a comparative advantage in this rapidly growing area. It is doing so by developing research activities that investigate the economic, political, cultural, and equity dimensions of food security in rural and regional areas.

SRA members  worked together in the development of two projects:

• Social Factors Influencing the Prioritisation and Management of Biosecurity Risks in Agri-Food Supply Chains
• Quantitative Assessment of Local Food Economies

Some members of this SRA were also engaged in food security research overseas (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe) where the work fits within the scope of this SRA.

The SRA had eight members made up of ILWS members, adjuncts and a practitioner/entrepreneur active in promoting local food in Wagga Wagga with capacity in a range of disciplines including sociology, agricultural science, nutrition and dietetics, environmental science and business.

These researchers have expertise in:

• Agri-food governance
• Biosecurity
• Social dimensions of Natural Resource Management
• Landholder adoption of sustainable production practices
• Social capital in rural communities
• Ethnic entrepreneurship in rural areas
• Rural development
• Community participation and engagement
• Rural nutrition and dietetic practice
• Rural health management
• Land management adaptation to climate change
• Community dietetics
• Local food economies
• Soil carbon sequestration

SRA activities and research projects were expected to influence future food security related policies, from how food is produced, and where, to issues associated with access to healthy and culturally appropriate food.

In 2016, the SRA  planned to develop a research project for possible ARC Linkage funding focusing on why, and in what ways, food retailers are seeking to develop short food supply chains; and contribute to the development of a larger-scale multi-Centre initiative focus on Food Futures: Intensification and Sustainability.

Two cross-centre projects (with the Graham Centre) funded by the Department of Agriculture on farm biosecurity practices and the management of emergency animal disease (EAD), and on engaging landholders to adopt profitable and sustainable carbon cropping practices have has been completed, as has an ARC Discovery project which looked at the use of Market Instruments for improved land management in Australia, and a RIRDC project on new immigrants and improving productivity in Australia agriculture.

Current  projects include:

• social factors influencing technology adoption in the rice industry
• farm power and conservation agriculture for sustainable intensification

Completed projects include:

• new immigrants and improving productivity in Australian agriculture
• profitable and sustainable cropping practices
• farm biosecurity and emergency animal disease management
• sustainable farming in Australia examining how market instruments can be used for improved land management
• landholder responses to water reform and climate change in the Namoi Valley
• landholder responses to climate variability and climate change
• triple bottom line reporting and sustainable irrigation
• managing dryland salinity

Issues

Regional and rural Australia is facing serious and growing food security challenges as a result of climate change, declining farm incomes, foreign ownership of farmland, conflicts over the use of land and water, rising fuel costs and diet-related health problems. These challenges threaten the well-being of Basin industries, communities and people as well as Australia's position as a net exporter of food.

For example, Australia's increasing dependence on imported fossil fuels means that at best there is 14 days worth of fuel in reserve. Should this vulnerable system be affected by geo-political disturbances for any longer than a week, domestic food production would be affected and many Australians, especially in rural and regional areas would not have the usual supplies of food they are used to, via the dominant retail food supermarket system.

This SRA sought to develop an improved understanding of the social, economic and environmental impact of these challenges on rural and regional residents, to critically assess the adequacy of the existing food system and policies in dealing with such challenges, and to map out alternatives that are capable of reducing vulnerability and promoting more sustainable and resilient food systems and rural and regional communities.

Members

Team Members

Outcomes

Some key research outcomes and impacts include:

• One cross-centre project (with the Graham Centre) funded by the Department of Agriculture on farm biosecurity practices and the management of emergency animal disease (EAD) has been completed. The findings from the project raise two significant issues that form the basis of the project team's recommendations to the Department of Agriculture, namely that there is a need for:
  • better coordination and collaboration between stakeholder organisations so as to encourage a shared understanding of biosecurity and EAD and to communicate a consistent message to producers about the importance of EAD prevention, and
  • better targeting of communication about the roles of stakeholders as well as practical information about on-farm biosecurity

• Findings from a project that looked at the use of Market Instruments for improved land management in Australia has provided policy makers with valuable information on implementation and adoption of market-based incentives.

Expected outcomes from current projects:

• A project funded by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (2012-2015) is investigating the experiences of immigrant farmers and growers, and temporary and permanent immigrant farm labour in order to better understand the ways in which immigrants can contribute to productivity, sustainability, preserving resources and contributing to rural renewal in Australia. The expected outcome of this research is an improvement in the Australian agricultural industry's success in attracting immigrants to fill labor shortages and an improvement in that sector's future productivity.

• A project being undertaken in partnership with Swinburne University is investigating social factors that influence technology adoption in the rice industry. Information  from this project is expected to:
  • be used by stakeholders to develop specifically targeted change strategies or to consider ways in which skills training and education can be extended, developed and communicated to growers.
  • help stakeholders develop more effective communication strategies

Projects

Publications

Peer-reviewed journals

2016

Culas, R. J & Tek, K. (2016): Food Security in Cambodia: Trends and Policy Objectives, International Journal of Development Issues, 15(3): 306-327 http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1108/IJDI-06-2016-0033

Hernández-Jover, M., Higgins, V., Bryant, M., Rast, L. & McShane, C. (2016) Farm biosecurity practices and the management of emergency animal disease among commercial beef producers in Australia, Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 134: 92-102.

Richards, C. & Higgins, V. (2016) Trade liberalisation and Australian biosecurity: opportunities and challenges under the 'Shared Responsibility' approach, Farm Policy Journal, 13(3): 1-9.

Higgins, V., Bryant, M., Hernández-Jover, M., McShane, C. & Rast, L. (2016) Harmonising devolved responsibility for biosecurity governance: the challenge of competing institutional logics, Environment and Planning A, 48(6): 133-1151.

Conference Presentations and Proceedings

Bryant, M. & Higgins, V. (2016) Constructing change readiness: the positioning of change recipients in an agricultural context. Proceedings of the 2016 British Academy of Management Conference, 6-8 September, Newcastle.

Higgins, V., Herbert, K., Bowden, P., Wu, H. & Behrendt, K. (2016) Social factors influencing landholder management of silverleaf nightshade, Proceedings of the 20^th Australian Weeds Conference, 11-15 September, Perth.

Herbert, K., Wu, H., Bowden, P., Behrendt, K. & Higgins, V. (2016) A national program to improve awareness and best management adoption for silverleaf nightshade control, Proceedings of the 20^th Australian Weeds Conference, 11-15 September, Perth.

Higgins, V., Bryant, M., Howell, A. & Battersby, J. (2016) Ordering precision agriculture: The socio-material shaping of technology adoption and farming practices, Paper presented at the XIV World Congress of Rural Sociology, August 10-14, Toronto, Canada,.

2015

Sinclair, K., Curtis, A., Mendham, E., & Mitchell, M. (2015). Assessing the efficacy of transition theory to identify industry transformation: a case study examining deregulation of Australia's dairy industry. Australian Geographer, 46(1), 113–129. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00049182.2014.986790

Higgins, V., Dibden, J. and Cocklin, C. (2015) Private agri-food governance and greenhouse gas abatement: Constructing a corporate carbon economy, Geoforum, 66: 75-84

2014

Mendham, E., Curtis, A. (2014). What lies beneath?: rural landholder interpretation of the risks of aquifer exploitation. Journal of Hydrology 511: 180-189.

Sinclair, K., Curtis, A., Mendham, E., Mitchell, M. (2014) Can resilience thinking provide useful insights for those examining efforts to transform contemporary agriculture. Agriculture and Human Values. DOI 10.1007/s10460-014-9488-4.

Higgins, V., Dibden, J., Potter, C., Moon, K. and Cocklin, C. (2014) Payments for ecosystem services, neoliberalisation, and the hybrid governance of land management in Australia, Journal of Rural Studies, 36: 463-474.

Higgins, V., Potter, C., Dibden, J. and Cocklin, C. (2014) Neoliberalising rural environments, Journal of Rural Studies, 36: 386-390.

King, D., Bird, D., Haynes, K., Boon, H., Cottrell, A., Millar, J., Okada, O., Box, P., Keogh, D., and Thomas, M. (2014) Voluntary relocation as an adaptation strategy to extreme weather events. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction DOI : 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2014.02.006

2013

Mazur, N., Curtis, A., Rogers, M. (2013) Do you see what I see? Rural landholders' belief in climate change. Society and Natural Resources 26(1): 75-85

Race, D.H., Curtis, A. (2013) Reflections on the effectiveness of market-based instruments to secure long-term environmental gains in South East Australia. Society and Natural Resources. 26(9): 1050-1065.

Lennox, G., Curtis, A. (2013) Trends in absentee ownership of rural land since European occupation of south east Australia. Australian Geographer 44(4): 419-433.

Rawluk, A., Curtis, A., Sharp, E., Kelly, B., Jakeman, T., Ross, A., Arshad, M., Brodie, R., Pollino, C., Sinclair, D., Croke, B., Querishi, E. (2013) Managed Aquifer Recharge in farming landscapes using large floods: an opportunity to improve outcomes for the MDB? Australasian Journal of Environmental Management 20(1): 34-49.

2012

Mendham, E., Curtis, A. Millar, J. (2012) The natural resource management implications of rural property turnover. Ecology and Society, 17(4): 5 July 2014

Maye, D., Dibden, J., Higgins, V. Potter, C. (2012). Governing biosecurity in a neoliberal world: Comparative perspectives from Australia and the United Kingdom. Environment and Planning A, 44: 150-168.

Millar, J. Roots, J. (2012) Changes in Australian agriculture and land use: implications for future food security. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 10 (1): 25-39.

Close

Book chapters

Douglas, E.M., Finlayson, C.M., Revenga, C., & Frankic, A. (2014) Chapter 7.. Coastal Systems and Access to Safe and Potable Water in Bowen, R.E., Depledge, M.H. Carlarne, C.P. & Fleming, L.E. (Eds) Oceans and Human Health: Implications for Society and Well-Being, Wiley Blackwell pp 177-200

Close

Books

Farmar-Bowers, Q., Higgins, V., Millar, J. (eds) (2012) Food Security in Australia: Challenges and Future Prospects, New York: Springer.

Close

Reports

Food Access and Affordability 2014 - Murrumbidgee Local Health District and Murrumbidgee Primary Care Network.

Food Access and Affordability 2014 – New England portion of Hunter New England LHD and Primary Care Network.

Food Access and Affordability 2014 – Western NSW Local Health District and Western NSW Primary Care Network.

Food Access and Affordability 2014 – Far West NSW Local Health District and Western NSW Primary Care Network.

Tackling Food Insecurity; getting healthy food on the table.

Close

Engagement

A Public Debate on "How we can best secure Australia's future food security?" was held at the CSU Albury-Wodonga Campus in August, 2013, in the lead-up to the Federal election and was attended by more than 130 people.

"Food Security in Australia: Challenges and Prospects for the Future" forum, attended by
over 50 people was held in October 2012. The day-long forum included the launch of a book (with the same name) of which Dr Joanne Millar and A/Prof Vaughan Higgins are co-editors.