The Northern Australia Aboriginal Kakadu Plum Alliance consortium consisting of eight Aboriginal Corporations has received an Australian Government grant of $455,100 to design an Indigenous certification and accreditation system.
The Mamabulanjin Aboriginal Corporation is the consortium’s lead member and will manage the grant to develop a database of Kakadu plum using blockchain and iso-elemental technology.
Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia David Littleproud said certification will combat food and ingredient fraud in international markets and will provide assurances to consumers.
“This grant will not only verify provenance of the Kakadu plum, it has the potential to be adapted to other high value supply chains,” Minister Littleproud said.
“The Kakadu plum is a highly-prized ingredient that is starting to grab the attention of the cosmetics and nutraceutical sectors, both here and overseas.
“Improving traceability will assist the Kakadu plum sector to continue growing, while protecting the interests Aboriginal people have in traditional and Indigenous knowledge.”
Chief Executive Officer of Mamabulanjin Aboriginal Corporation, Neil Gower, said the project would make Indigenous producers more competitive internationally.
“This is a fantastic opportunity, not just for the Northern Australia Aboriginal Kakadu Plum Alliance, but for Kakadu plum growers all across Australia,” Mr Gower said.
“We’re hopeful that this project could eventually be used by other Indigenous producers of Australian native foods, like macadamias, finger limes and lemon myrtle.”
There are more details about the program and the 14 successful round two projects here.
Fast Facts:
- The program is part of the Australian Government’s Modernising Agricultural Trade agenda to support the target of a $100 billion agricultural sector by 2030.
- The Australian Government is investing $7 million from 2019-20 through to the end of 2022-23 in projects under the Traceability Grants.
