A leading food systems specialist has congratulated Australia for its role in developing food security in Asia, but says it is now time for the Aussie ag sector to evolve to play a role in the next generation of global food systems.
Speaking at the recent Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society (AARES) conference in Canberra Prabhu Pingali, of Cornell University, part of the Ivy League in the United States, said the next step for Australia's ag industry was to work to develop systems that are healthy for both food consumers and the environment.
Prof Pingali, who has previous experience with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Nations, said Australia had played a big role in helping change Asia's food systems over the past century and averting issues with hunger and starvation, which in turn helped bed down economic gains in developing Asian nations.
However, he said the path to food security in Asia had raised some unintended consequences.
"Strong political support for enhancing the supply of staple grains has resulted in reduced emphasis on the nutritional quality of the food system, and high levels of malnutrition and child stunting continue to persist," Prof Pingali said.
He said this focus on staple crops meant there were issues in getting nutritionally important non-staple foods at an affordable price.
The explosion in urban growth in developing has also created disparities.
"The slow growth of non-farm employment opportunities is widening rural-urban income disparities, and stubbornly high levels of rural poverty, particularly in dry-land areas," he said.
But looking forward, he encouraged Australian government and ag leader to work in with positive developments in the region.
"On the positive side, rising urban middle class demand for diet diversity can help induce a widening of food choices and create new opportunities for rural growth and health.
"Also, increased consumer awareness of food quality and sustainability could lead to improved incentives for environmentally smarter and climate friendly production practices," he explained.
Prof Pingali said government policy would be critical in unlocking better food systems.
He said at present difficulties in achieving policy reform had the potential to impede towards a more nutritious, environmentally sustainable and climate friendly food system, in Australia and further afield.
However, he said by using diplomacy judiciously Australia could help shift difficult government stances.
"Australian agricultural R&D organisations, such as the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, have been wielding so-called 'soft-power' and diplomatic impact as important conduits for information and technology transfer on smarter and more sustainable farming practices for decades.
"More broadly, and with more focused funding, support and research, Australia can play a greater role with its neighbours in a regional shift towards healthier food systems, while it also navigates this necessary transition from a focus on production to a holistic food systems approach that explicitly accounts for synergies and trade-offs between food, health, environment and climate change," he concluded.