ATSE Crawford Fund

The Crawford Fund was established as an initiative of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) in 1987. It is a national support organisation for international agricultural research (IAR).

According to a paper prepared by its founder Professor Derek Tribe in July 1998, the origins of the Crawford Fund derive from a May 1986 meeting of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) in Ottawa which considered the need for “Broadening Support for International Agricultural Research”. The focus was to be on funding for the CGIAR Centres and increased public awareness of the benefits that flow from agricultural research for development.

In order to carry the message to a range of audiences it was decided that national support organisations should be established in member countries, starting with the USA, the UK, Canada, and Australia.

During 1986, Professor Tribe with support from the Australian aid agency (ADAB, later AusAID), the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the CGIAR Secretariat, explored the possibilities of establishing a national support organisation in Australia. Finding strong support in academic, political and business circles, he concluded that the Academy of Technological Sciences (and Engineering) would be an appropriate home for such an organisation.

Named the Crawford Fund in honour of Sir John Crawford, The Crawford Fund for International Agricultural Research is governed by its own Board, one or two members of which are on the Academy Board, and includes the part-time Executive Director. The current national chair of the Board is John Kerin.

At the time the Fund was established, the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering defined its role as making “more widely known throughout Australia the benefits that accrue both internationally and to Australia from international agricultural research, and to encourage greater support for, and participation in, international agricultural R&D by Australian governmental and non-governmental organisations and, in particular, the industrial, farming and scientific communities in Australia”.

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