Cutting-edge sustainable agricultural businesses in the South East were recently showcased to Indonesian senior government and industry leaders.
The visit occurred through an Australian Awards Indonesia short-course program called Sustainable Agri-Food Systems, part of the Australian Aid Program.
Asia Australis Managing Partner and University of Adelaide Senior Visiting Lecturer in the School of Economics and Public Policy Dr Nathan Gray, who led the program on behalf of the university, said the program was part of a drive to improve the national food security systems within Indonesia.
The program demonstrated how the businesses drove sustainability and environmental performance improvements and efficiencies along with the entire value chain in agriculture.
Businesses involved included Van Schaik’s Bio Gro in Mount Gambier, Buckley Innovative Farming in Mingbool, UDC dairy in Penola, Holla-Fresh in Tantanoola and Mini Jumbuk in Naracoorte.
“All of those companies all did something slightly different; they all were dealing with things like recycling water, using renewable energies to power their facilities, had high levels of automation,” Dr Gray said.
“The drive behind all those businesses was around optimising efficiencies and they were undertaking sustainable practices not because it made them feel better, but because it had a financial benefit to the businesses.
“This is something that has been driven particularly in South Australia and the Limestone Coast because of resource constraints.”
A further benefit of the project was the local companies were linked up with the participants, many of whom already exported to Indonesia, and Dr Gray said they continued to converse.
“Showcasing their products and how efficient and premium their products are feeds directly into the relationships with these officially and otherwise in Indonesia, it is a critical part of our trade business and government relationships between Indonesia and Australia,” he said.
Dr Gray said Australia was considered a safe and reliable food partner and Indonesia had been one of the state’s largest food export destinations for the best part of 30 years.
Dr Gray said due to Indonesia’s large population their food production challenges were very difficult and because Indonesia could never supply all its own food itself, partnering with companies who exported products into Indonesia was vital.
“There is a clear linkage between South Australia, and other parts of Australia, and Indonesia and their food security, so this program was about helping to inform, improve and help Indonesia meet their food security needs through education, information and business-to-business connections,” he said
Dr Gray said some businesses demonstrated industry relationships along with other sustainability benefits, practices and processes and provided opportunities for lessons to be learned in an Indonesian context.
“It is not just about exporting but also showing us as a valuable joint-venture partner and how we can help, because the more we help a country like Indonesia to be able to increase their capacity, the more demand they will have for our products,” he said.
“It is not just selling South Australian products into Indonesia; it is being able to demonstrate how we do things and then how we can work with Indonesia to be able to help them meet their own food security needs.”
Dr Gray said the participants presented back projects they had been working on in their government departments or businesses to drive sustainability programs within the agri-food sector.
“They delivered a whole range, which included everything from government policy decisions and frameworks through to addressing nutrition benefits for impoverished families, through to developing waste to energy projects and composting through to a whole range of other permaculture and horticulture programs,” he said.
Dr Gray said the Sustainable Agri-Food Systems program was a major success and had been very positive and rewarding.
“Projects like this help to socialise and market the great benefits that every company and every business does in the South East and all across South Australia, so there is a branding exercise here that helps us emphasise that we are world leaders in food and that drives future demand,” he said.
“It is in our best interests to help Indonesia develop, the more economic development they have, the more money they have to spend on things like our premium food.
“There will be opportunities to be able to bring future delegations out from Indonesia in the years ahead and we expect to be able to do that so we can continue to showcase the opportunities and the excellence that occurs in South Australia, and particularly in the South East.”
