Overview
The Annual Review features highlights and achievements for ACIAR during 2019–20.
The financial year began with the world enjoying historically high levels of aggregate food supply after good seasons in major food-producing regions and it ended with a global pandemic (the sixth major zoonotic disease since 1980) exacerbating food insecurity in vulnerable regions everywhere.
As we continue to grapple with the multifaceted and far-reaching implications of the pandemic, the ACIAR value proposition is more compelling than ever. Australia’s deep and broad scientific expertise in sustainable and resilient food systems is a strategic national asset. We work with partners across the Indo-Pacific region to tackle the intersecting challenges of health security, food security, water security and biosecurity—all of which ultimately affect our own national security.
Our work is guided by eminent experts on the Commission for International Agricultural Research. Throughout the year, we have continued our important work, pursuing strong partnerships and better science to catalyse and share innovations that farmers can use now, and in the future, to grow more and healthier food, earn more, and reduce environmental impacts. In 2019–20, ACIAR supported 246 bilateral research projects, and worked with more than 400 project partners.
The achievements reported in this publication are only made possible by the people running our research projects on the ground— committed and talented scientists from our research partners in Australia and our partner countries, who have continued to operate in difficult situations throughout the year.
View the online version
