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Research to tackle poverty
24 May 2008
Internationalisation is a powerful force on university campuses worldwide and USC is actively engaged in hosting international students, promoting international experiences for our own students, collaborating with partner institutions overseas in research initiatives and contributing to the development of our broader Asia/Pacific region.
Two USC researchers have won funding that will help to tackle poverty in Pacific countries by kick-starting a nut processing industry. Helen Wallace from Science Health and Education, and Jenny Carter from Arts and Social Sciences have been awarded more than $650,000 by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) for a project on processing indigenous nuts in the Pacific. The nuts, a relative of our local macadamia, are known as Galip in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Nangai in Vanuatu. They are already sold in roadside stalls and markets but the processing industry is very small and inefficient.
Dr Wallace will identify the most appropriate methods and equipment for pulping, drying, cracking, seed removal, roasting, packaging and storing the nuts. Some of the work will be based on her past experience with macadamia research. Dr Carter will develop and evaluate, with stakeholders, the appropriateness of the different nut processing techniques. Her approaches will be guided by previous research experience working with Indigenous communities in northern Australia and in Africa.
The project will involve holding workshops with farmers and local processors to identify their needs and concerns about processing the nuts. The team will progressively report on the trials and continue to gather feedback as the project evolves and moves towards a successful outcome. This adaptive evaluation, based on a partnership with stakeholders, will ensure that the recommended solutions suit local conditions and the social and cultural context of farming and processing in each of the countries involved.
The project also aims to provide training and capacity exchange in nut processing so that after the project has finished, the trained farmers, processors and staff from government and non-government organisations can continue to develop the industry and train other people. At the moment, demand for the nuts exceeds supply, so there is room and need for a greater critical mass of producers and processors.
The project is based around collaboration with researchers from the National Agricultural Research Institute in PNG, the Department of Forests in Vanuatu and Australian macadamia processors. The research will help to tackle poverty in Pacific countries by giving women and small farmers and processors more income, increasing opportunities for paid work in what are typically subsistence economies, and reducing crop losses at the production, processing and distribution stages.
The USC research leaders are an interesting team, comprising a tree-crop specialist and a geographer. The partnership reflects a relatively recent innovation in aid related agricultural research and development. There is little point trying to introduce western knowledge or technologies to developing countries unless there is a willingness and capacity, on the part of the donor, to look for solutions that suit the local cultural environment.
Staff across our University are actively involved in applied research that contributes to the future of the Sunshine Coast region. For the University, it is gratifying to see the reputation of our staff being recognised by an agency such as ACIAR and to see their expertise being applied to neighbouring, developing countries where the impact of research such as this can make such a difference to the lives of ordinary people.
Professor Greg Hill is Acting Vice-Chancellor at the University of the Sunshine Coast.