Agricultural Traceability Projects

$5 million has been provided to the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) to bring industry together to determine how to demonstrate evidence-based sustainability credentials, continue work on the Australian Agricultural Sustainability Framework (AASF), and shape international sustainability standards.

Investment in the development of the industry-led Australian Agricultural Sustainability Framework (AASF) supports evidence-based, consistent and streamlined sustainability credentials. These are key to supporting export trade and action on sustainable agriculture and climate change. The project will benefit our primary producers to understand sustainability requirements, and build Australian agriculture’s reputation locally and internationally. It will enable Australian agricultural producers and exporters to meet emerging market access requirements on sustainability to maintain and grow market access.   

Objectives

The objectives of this project include to:

• Facilitate and build partnerships between government, industry and academia to define the requirements for traceability on sustainability to report against the AASF and support market access.
• Drive communication, outreach, and education with farmers, industry and domestic supply-chain companies, finance and agribusiness to build awareness and engagement with the AASF.
• Shape global standards and influence emerging market access requirements.
• Evaluate future options for measuring and demonstrating Australia’s agricultural sustainability practices.

Key outcomes from the grant

The intended outcomes of the project are:

• Increased awareness and the capacity of Australian farmers and industry to demonstrate sustainability credentials.
• Australian industry leadership on agricultural sustainability and climate action.
• Support Australian Government efforts to shape new global international sustainability standards.

Key activities

The NFF will work with industry, research organisations and governments on a range of activities, including to:

• Establish and drive an industry-government working group under the Australian Agricultural Traceability Governance Group to support demonstration of evidence-based sustainability credentials.
• Expand on previous work under Stage 1 of the AASF to identify existing sustainability data sources that could be accessed and leveraged to demonstrate Australian producers’ claims and credentials on sustainability.
• Undertake a whole-of-sector materiality environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) alignment assessment of the AASF with existing and developing international and domestic industry sustainability frameworks and schemes.
• Co-design, with Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), the requirements for a sustainability data ecosystem to support alignment and interoperability (where applicable) of industry data to report against the AASF and emerging international requirements.
• Complete a pilot/s to market test and verify the AASF with private sector companies and retailers in end-to-end supply chains using the Pilot Program Methodology component from Stage 1.
• Expand engagement activities with stakeholders through the Community of Practice to build awareness and engagement with the AASF, and continue to build stakeholder buy- in on the role of traceability to demonstrate sustainable agriculture and action on climate change throughout the agriculture sector.

Intended benefits

The grant program will:

• Increase the ability of the Australian agriculture sector to demonstrate its sustainable practices to global markets, progress against our international commitments and action on climate change.
• Articulate the sustainability of Australian agriculture on a national and whole-of-sector level.
• Support efforts to shape global sustainability standards to ensure Australia’s unique growing conditions and our world-leading sustainable agriculture practices are reflected.

For more information on this project please email traceability.project@agriculture.gov.au.

A $2 million grant has been provided to the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation (ILSC) to develop Australia’s first Indigenous Agricultural Product Framework.

There is growing demand for greater transparency across the supply chain and importance is being placed on provenance and credentials. Additionally, there are increasing opportunities for First Nations Australians to prove additional attributes to their products and gain access to premium markets, strengthening economic and job opportunities. The development of the Indigenous Agricultural Product Framework will be guided by senior First Nations representatives. It will provide an evidence base to help establish Indigenous agricultural product credentials that can verify provenance, support value-added benefits to First Nations people and secure economic benefit for domestic and exported products.

An agriculture credential can be viewed as a provable product claim that provides assurance to consumers, governments, processors, and others regarding the presence of characteristics or attributes that cannot be easily observed. 

The framework specifically benefits First Nations agriculture businesses and communities and will increase the ability of First Nations people to demonstrate authenticity, prove world-leading practices, and protect and verify claims about attributes of their Indigenous agricultural products.

Objectives

The objectives of this grant to the ILSC include the following:

• Enable First Nations peoples to define ‘Indigenous agricultural product’ for the purposes of agricultural trade, recognition, and benefit.
• Clarify the benefits, gaps, industry maturity and export opportunity for Indigenous agricultural products.
• Provide key actions and governance requirements to translate the concept into recognisable Indigenous agricultural credentials.

Key outcomes from the grant

The Indigenous Agricultural Product Framework will be developed by First Nations people for First Nations people, by 2025, and will:

• Help deliver ongoing prosperity for First Nations people through premium value for both domestic and exported products, including a fairer return across the supply chain.
• Increase opportunities for specialist farmers, producers and processors to enter export markets, especially those involved in exporting boutique premium products.
• Help deliver ongoing respect, recognition and growth to all First Nations people and communities, through jobs and employment.

Key activities

The ILSC will work closely with stakeholders across Australia to develop the framework, and have engaged the National Farmers’ Federation to assist in its project delivery. Key activities include, but are not limited to:

• Consultation and engagement activities with government and Indigenous industry stakeholders, business and communities to define what characteristics must be captured to define an Indigenous product. It will also identify products currently produced for the domestic and export markets and the regulatory environment they operate under.
• Consolidation of knowledge and reporting on current issues and barriers to regulatory compliance in the domestic and export markets, as well as the potential economic and community benefits of identifying and promoting Indigenous products.
• Analysis and recommendations on premium value opportunities and the economic impact on Indigenous businesses to uptake credentials. This includes providing recommendations on the availability or potential of existing traceability technology solutions.
• Development of tangible recommendations to meet requirements of interoperability of information across Indigenous supply chains, uptake of Indigenous credentials and what support the government can provide to uplift traceability maturity.
• Development of a draft Indigenous Agricultural Product Framework.

Intended benefits

The grant program will:

• Increase the ability of First Nations people to demonstrate authenticity and protect claims about attributes of Indigenous agricultural products.
• Provide economic benefit through increased market access and value adding for domestic and exported Indigenous products.
• Support the protection and appropriate use of the Indigenous knowledges and cultural intellectual property, the National Agreement on Closing the Gap through priority reforms, and targets and outcomes for economic development.
• Complement broader international developments including the Australia – European Union Free Trade Agreement on Sustainable Food Systems.

Supporting First Nations Australians to own and benefit from the cultivation and sale of traditional agricultural products ensures First Nations agricultural practices are recognised and valued within sustainable practices.

The ILSC’s funded research will support the agriculture sector’s capabilities for inclusive and equitable reporting against multiple sustainability frameworks and emerging international credential requirements and standards.

For more information on the Indigenous Agricultural Product Framework grant, please email traceability.project@agriculture.gov.au