Two University of Southern Queensland (USQ) academics, Professor Alice Woodhead and Associate Professor Bernadette McCabe, will be sharing their insights into improving food security at the 2016 Crawford Fund conference.
Being held next week in Canberra, the conference is entitled Waste Not, Want Not: The Circular Economy to Food Security.
The conference is the premier annual event of The Crawford Fund, a not-for-profit organisation which works to raise awareness of the benefits to Australia and developing countries from international agricultural research.
Professor Woodhead’s talk is entitled the Last Mile Challenge, and will look at how the rapid growth of mega cities and Asia’s middle class has driven change in retail outlets and consumer purchasing.
As leader of the Agricultural Value Chains research program at USQ’s Australian Centre for Sustainable Business and Development, and as a member of the Australian-ASEAN Council, Professor Woodhead will be talking about the scope of the mega-city food waste problem and food distribution.
“In the past, most of Asia’s food wastage occurred post-harvest and during distribution to wet markets. The growth of supermarkets, limited cold storage distribution and more packaged food at supermarkets is increasing waste within mega cities,” Professor Woodhead said.
“Waste created once food leaves distribution centres tends to end up in open landfills on the edge of cities. The challenge we face in managing this problem is immense, but can be tackled on a number of fronts.”
For her talk, Associate Professor Bernadette McCabe (pictured) will draw on her experience as Australian National Team Leader for the International Energy Agency’s Bioenergy Task 37: Energy from Biogas and leader of Energy Conservation Management research at USQ’s National Centre for Engineering in Agriculture.
Entitled Waste-to-Energy Innovations Powering a Circular Economy, Associate Professor McCabe’s address will scope the potential of waste-to-energy generators like anaerobic digesters to counter energy poverty and improve livelihoods.
“I will be highlighting some key innovations across the globe, with a focus on novel approaches being used in developing countries and how they can minimise the impact of food loss and waste,” she said.
“When combined with food security, waste-to-energy technologies provide a powerful case for city and rural communities alike.”