TNQ Drought Hub
James Cook University Australia
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Collaboration to support food security and sustainable agriculture in Cape York Peninsula

Key takeaways

  • Communities of Practice drive local and regional solutions. New local and regional CoPs will identify priority needs, share knowledge, and connect communities, businesses, and capacity partners to develop sustainable agricultural models.
  • Collaboration and capacity-building ensures lasting impact. By linking local initiatives with regional expertise, technical support, and diverse partners, the project seeks to align investments and create a sustainable framework for future agricultural success.
  • Practical on-ground support is already underway with activities like soil testing and community garden development in Napranum providing immediate technical advice and skill-building to supply fresh local produce to regional supermarkets.

Cape York NRM and the TNQ Drought Hub’s Sustainable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Enterprise (SATSIE) Program are joining forces with local councils and businesses to support sustainable agriculture projects and food security through a Climate-Smart and Sustainable Agriculture project in Cape York Peninsula.

A project planning meeting recently occurred to discuss the establishment of communities of practice (CoP) at the local community/business and regional scales. These CoP’s will identify priority needs to support sustainable agriculture and food security and share learnings within and between communities, businesses and regional capacity partners.

SATSIE Program Lead Dr Jim Turnour said, “We know that there is a need to support the reestablishment of agriculture enterprises in remote discrete communities to achieve food security. We also know there have been farms in the past but that these have eventually failed for various reasons.”

Cape York NRM and SATSIE planning meeting
“It will be important therefore to work at the local scale to support enterprises develop but also at the regional scale with capacity partners to create a sustainable model for long term success and the CoPs are being designed to support development at these different scales.”

“Cape York NRM will focus on engagement with local communities and business to identify projects and activities to support food security, grazing and farming enterprises. While the SATSIE team will bring together at the regional scale retail stores and supplier representatives, government and non-government investors and researchers to look at the agriculture and food system. Depending on the needs of communities and businesses, the SATSIE Program will also link local CoPs to expertise within the hub and JCU like the Regional Soil Coordinator Dhiraj Gajera.”

Dhiraj is currently working with Napranum Aboriginal Shire Council providing technical support and advice to develop a community garden. Through soils testing and building the communities skills and knowledge to grow produce, the regions supermarkets will have a local suppler. 

“Working holistically on the food and agriculture system at these different scales with local communities and businesses and a broad range of partner stakeholders we hope to align investments and capacity building to achieve long term food security for communities in Cape York Peninsula.”

The Cultivating Climate-Smart and Sustainable Agriculture in Cape York Peninsula project is supported by the Australian Government through funding from the Natural Heritage Trust under the Climate-Smart Agriculture Program and delivered by Cape York NRM, a member of the Commonwealth Regional Delivery Partners panel.

Above Image: L-R: Cape York NRM Chief Executive Officer Pip Schroor, Regional Soil Coordinator Dhiraj Gajera, Cape York NRM Sustainable Agriculture Facilitator and Drought Resilience Coordinator Lauren O’Bryan, Cape York NRM Program Manager Landscapes & Monitoring Jorg Edsen, SASTIE Program Lead Dr Jim Turnour, Cape York NRM Program Lead Climate Resilience & Sustainable Agriculture Geoff Wilson and James Cook University Senior Research Officer Dr Abner Yalu