Agriculture is the main source of income for several hundred million people around the world who struggle with poverty and hunger, most of whom are connected to small-scale, or smallholder, farms which collectively supply most food in developing communities.

Agricultural development is one of the most powerful tools to end extreme poverty, boost shared prosperity, and feed a projected 10 billion people by 2050. Growth in the agriculture sector is two to four times more effective in raising incomes among the poorest compared to other sectors and is crucial to economic growth.

But agriculture-driven growth, poverty reduction, and food security are at risk due to multiple shocks from COVID-19 related disruptions to extreme weather, pests, and conflicts, especially following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the impact of climate change which will reduce crop yeilds. In addition poor diets and food insecurity worsen diet quality and increase the risk of various forms of malnutrition and illness.

Join us at our Melbourne event to hear sector leaders with diverse backgrounds share how they are working to improve food security.

Speakers

Shan Huang

Shan is a Public Health Nutritionist specialising in Maternal, Child Health and Nutrition. Prior to joining Burnet, Shan worked and lived overseas, predominantly in the Asia Pacific region including Nepal, Thailand, Cambodia, Lao, and PNG for various international NGOs and UN agencies. Program management, planning, implementation and formative research has been the main focus of her work.

As a results of her experience in international development, Shan is undertaking a PhD at Monash University investigating the use of digital technologies to improve nutrition assessment in low-resource settings. Shan is the technical lead on two nutrition projects at the Burnet, one in Laos and another in PNG.