The Australian agrifood sector is one of the nation’s great assets. Its economic contribution is substantial, it plays a critical role in Australia’s social fabric, it anchors every regional community and economy, and it’s responsible for the stewardship of more than half the continent’s land mass, including the water, soil, carbon and biodiversity systems that the whole economy depends on.
While the sector is rich in expertise, investment, programs and effort, complex challenges persist and, in some cases, are deepening. At the same time, Australia faces converging national challenges where the sector is uniquely positioned to be a central driver of transformative impact.
Systems thinking is a practical way of understanding complex problems. It looks at how people, policies, markets, infrastructure, data, incentives and behaviours interact, then identifies where coordinated action can make the biggest difference.
A Systems Thinking Approach to Australian AgriFood (the Project) was commissioned by AgriFutures Australia and authored by the Australia AgriFood Alliance.
The Project explored how a systems thinking approach could strengthen the agrifood sector’s contribution to Australia’s future by building on the strong collaboration led by the RDCs, connecting effort more deliberately to national priorities and leveraging the significant assets of the sector including economic contribution, it’s role in Australia’s social fabric and its’ stewardship of more than half the continent’s land mass, which the whole economy depends on.
In line with the vision of Ambitious Australia, it examined opportunities to work with sectors such as mining, energy, health and defence to tackle shared challenges, unlock new sources of value and drive broader national prosperity.
Methodology
The project reviewed more than 30 Australian reports, strategies, reviews and inquiries. It examined 17 international examples of agrifood systems and models, alongside 16 public-private partnership models and 21 self-organising system case studies.
It also drew on more than 100 consultations across agrifood, mining, energy, health, technology and defence, international interviews across five countries, and a systems thinking workshop with more than 200 participants.
The project was overseen by a Steering Committee of representatives from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, National Farmers’ Federation, Meat & Livestock Australia, Hort Innovation, Wine Australia, Grains Research and Development Corporation, AgriFutures, and the Council of Rural Research and Development Corporations.
Australia’s agrifood system has significant strengths, including deep expertise, strong collaboration and a world-leading RDC model. The research found the greatest constraint is not capability, investment or effort, but the way these strengths are connected and coordinated.
Fragmentation across governance, policy, investment, data and coordination continues to limit the sector’s ability to respond to complex national challenges.
The project identified six interconnected challenges shaping the future of Australian agrifood:
These challenges cannot be solved by agriculture acting alone. They require stronger connections with sectors such as energy, mining, health, technology, manufacturing and defence, built around shared outcomes and mutual value.In high-performing systems, complexity is managed by aligning people, investment, incentives and action around a small number of shared goals, or ‘missions’.Australia’s opportunity is to turn existing capability into coordinated action on challenges that no sector can solve alone.
The project outlines six formal findings, which can be found on pages 36 – 39 of the Final Report.
What is a mission?
A systems mission is a shared national challenge with a clear goal and a coordinated plan for action.
It brings together the people, organisations, investment and knowledge needed to tackle complex issues in a way that creates benefits across multiple sectors, not just one.
The project found that the best way to build capability, strengthen coordination and refine the supporting environment is through doing.
Rather than waiting for perfect structures or complete alignment, the opportunity is to apply the approach through a practical mission with an adjacent sector focused on a real shared challenge where there is mutual value.
This allows the sector to test the tools, learn how organisations work together in practice, identify policy and investment barriers, and generate evidence on what delivers value. Importantly, it creates a pathway to learn, adapt and improve over time, ensuring future decisions are informed by experience rather than assumption.
The tools and resources have been developed to enable any organisation, agency or group to undertake or pilot a ‘mission’.
The project details eight formal recommendations, which can be found on pages 40 – 42 of the Final Report.
The project has created practical tools and resources, designed so any organisation, agency or group can start using them straight away.
A practical test-and-refine approach is critical to systems thinking. A real-world mission allows stakeholders to validate assumptions, learn from implementation, strengthen adoption pathways and refine the approach before scaling it more broadly.
A suite of tools and resources are available in the Tools and Resources section below.
For quick reference:
These interconnected challenges are shaping the future of Australian agrifood. They cut across sectors, involve competing incentives and cannot be solved by agriculture acting along.
Knowing who to involve is half the battle. The project developed a stakeholder directory of more than 400 organisations across agrifood and adjacent sectors, categorised by stakeholder category, organisation type and geography.
A representative sample of key opinion leaders was surveyed on incentives and barriers, informing engagement strategies for key stakeholder groups.
For access to this stakeholder directory, email hello@agrifutures.com.au.
Mission selection test
To be successful, a mission needs to:
The project identified six potential candidate missions.
This means any organisation or group can select a mission, and use the opportunity card, 10 Step Process and other project resources to get underway.
Access the mission opportunities report: click here.
Each area focuses on a national challenge where coordinated action across agrifood and related sectors could deliver greater impact.
Alternatively, an organisation or group could develop their own mission, using the simple mission selection test and other project resources to help guide them.
Detailed opportunity cards have been developed for each potential mission area. These cover description, enablers, barriers, lead actors and implementation horizon and have been developed to support mission activation.
Each potential candidate mission was scored against seven criteria to aid prioritisation: catalytic potential, cross-sector relevance, alignment with national priorities, feasibility, timing and scalability, shared value creation and RDC leverage.
Detailed opportunity cards have been developed for each potential mission area. They are designed to support any organisation or group in pursuing a mission by outlining a potential pathway for addressing the challenge/opportunity.
Each opportunity card:
The 10-step systems thinking process provides a repeatable, shared method for acting on complex national challenges, connecting engagement to implementation so consultation converts into designed missions rather than ending as conversation.
It disciplines the work through five phases, ensuring the problem is framed before solutions are designed. And it produces a defined output at every step, so each stage leaves an artefact the next can build on.
The project built an interactive systems map showing how the six challenges impact agrifood and adjacent sectors: system variables, interdependencies, leverage points and cross-sector relationships.
The map defines Australian agrifood as one connected national system, not a collection of sectors.
To view and interact with the map, click here.
This final report brings together the findings from the Systems Thinking for Australian Agrifood project, outlining the key insights, opportunities and recommendations for applying systems thinking to address complex challenges and support a more resilient, sustainable and connected agrifood sector.
Publication
