How Australia is building agricultural leadership in developing countries

Each year the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research awards the John Dillon Memorial Fellowship for 10 mid-career agricultural researchers and scientists working in developing countries on ACIAR projects. The fellowship brings the researchers and scientists to Australia for six weeks, and provides them with leadership development training and engagement with Australian institutions relevant to their field of interest. With the training, participants can become influential changemakers on key issues affecting farmers, agriculture and food security — both nationally and globally. In March, the 2017 fellows visited Canberra and met with representatives of Pakistan, Philippines, Uganda and Vietnam to discuss the fellowship and its impact on their research, careers and outlooks. Why mid-career is the right time to become a policy influencer Being an existing leader in an ACIAR-led agricultural project is an important criteria in the detailed application nominees are required to complete. This means nominees not only have a vast knowledge of agricultural research in their country, but are also cognizant of the roadblocks that are preventing impact. The competition is fierce. This year there were over 100 applicants for just 10 fellowships. Kim Khoi Dang, director of the Centre for Agriculture Policy in Vietnam, said he was in competition with 19 other nominees in his home country. But the career opportunities that can come after such a fellowship made it well worth the effort. “It is a mid-career chance for me and provides great opportunities for my future,” Dang told Devex. For others, less-than-subtle hints from ACIAR counterparts got the ball rolling. “I happen to have been coordinating a project in my country on food security and we had a mid-term review. A project manager from ACIAR was looking into the progress of the project and my leadership — and he hinted that this was an opportunity I could benefit from,” Hillary Agaba, director of the National Forestry Resources Research Institute in Uganda, explained to Devex. Agaba said that the fellowship was prestigious and a good opportunity for governments and research institutes to collaborate on projects to make a difference in developing countries. Learning to lead and communicate Each of the fellows came into their Australian experience with different research backgrounds and interests, but all had knowledge that there were groups who needed to be given a stronger voice in their government’s policymaking decision. For Aneela Afzal, an assistant professor at the University of Arid Agriculture in Pakistan, it was the female agricultural workforce. “In Pakistani society, women are prominent in agriculture,” she told Devex. “More that 65 percent of livestock workers are women, 45 percent in crop sectors and some have more than 90 percent female representation, including cotton. But they are being paid less than men.” Learning to give them a voice was a goal of her time in Australian. The ACIAR program considers being able to communicate with a range of influencers skills that are critical to creating change. The first stop for the fellows was Melbourne, where they were provided with a week-long intensive training. Leadership training taught them about the leader they were, and how they were more effective in making change. “Not only are leaders different, but the people we lead are different and you need to understand how to get the best out of them,” Agaba said. To be effective outside of their working environment, scientists and researchers also need to be able to communicate their message widely, clearly and concisely — minus the jargon. The fellows also came out of the training understanding the key role they play in creating change. “Scientific data is crucial to developing policy,” Leylani Mandac Juliano, supervising science research specialist with the Philippine Rice Research Institute, told Devex. “If you are given an elevator opportunity to get a message across, you need facts and data. Once the decision maker is made aware of an issue through data, the decision process can begin.” Identifying, influencing and supporting champions for agricultural causes within governments was a strategy fellows were taught, as well as the various mediums that could be used for influence — including traditional media and social media. Using young people to be influencers in their families was also discussed. But the aim was to package information in a manner that was attractive and concise. “One picture paints a thousand words, but today it might just be a one-minute video that can communicate all the information you need,” Juliano said. “And if it is shared on the right platform, it can influence people and create change.” Prior to their Australian visit, the fellows considered policy outside of their sphere of operation and, for some, simply outside of their research interests. “Until I undertook this training, I thought policy was something exotic,” Agaba said. “But now I realize we have a lot to contribute in policy formulation. We have learned not just about the formulation of policy but communicating to the policymakers what it takes to influence the policy creation process. I will be going back a different person.” Returning home to build change The fellows were not only provided with leadership and communication training, they also saw how Australia’s agricultural research and scientific organizations were putting practice into reality. And this also created key partnerships and contacts for the future work of the fellows. Returning home, all have an action plan ready to implement. “It would be absurd for anyone who has undertaken this course to leave without an action plan,” Agaba said. “We have been guided in developing action plans and we have been paired up to help each other in monitoring progress.” The specific goals for each differ in scope, but the impact for each aims to be large scale. “I came here and learned a lot about creating a farmers’ association,” Dang said. “Thousands of farmers together communicating one message can create change and influence. In Vietnam, we need to better organize our farmers.” Afzal plans large scale influence through a center for women’s gender in development studies, and Juliano will be working to gain the support of her organization and government to make real impact. “All of us will be game changers when we go back,” she told Devex. “This has been an eye opening experience.” Our mission is to do more good for more people. If you think the right information can make a difference, we invite you to join us by making a small investment in Professional Membership.