Engineers Without Borders Local Design Summit:
Indigenous Agriculture and Land Regeneration


Story by Rebecca Craine.

Rebecca (above left) is in her final year at ANU pursuing a Bachelor of Engineering and Earth Science. She is interested in sustainability and infrastructure and how these can be developed in the agricultural space. Rebecca is working at CEAT as a part of the Research Translation Initiative (RTI) team, focussing on technology uptake in piggery systems. 

The unforeseen impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic have changed life in many ways, and has pushed us all to learn and adapt to rapidly changing circumstances. For Engineers without Borders (EWB), the introduction of travel restrictions meant that their Humanitarian Design Summits, which usually see engineers travel around the world to develop their skills in humanitarian engineering and cross-cultural engagement, were put on hold. The ACT chapter of EWB took this as an opportunity to turn their focus inside our own borders and apply humanitarian engineering practices to a topical subject in the Australian agriculture space: Native Grains.

Native Australian grasses are experiencing an increasing demand due to their applications in environmental regeneration and an emerging native foods industry. There are significant challenges associated with a native grains industry, some of which a research team in the College of Engineering and Computer Science are working to address with an Engagement project through CEAT’s Strategic Investment Program (SIP). In order to better understand the challenges and opportunities in the native grains space, Viv and I attended the EWB Local Design Summit, to meet those involved in the industry and connect with students interested in the space.

The design summit was spread across four days and held on Ngunnawal and Ngambri country, in which Canberra and the surrounding regions sit. Two introductory evening sessions were held, where we first met a Ngunnawal Elder and learnt about local Country, and then sat down the following night to identify and discuss the perspectives and biases we might carry into a humanitarian design project. We then completed two full-day sessions where we met with native seed harvesters to understand their operations and challenges before undertaking an engineering hackathon to design systems that may help to address these challenges.

Day One: Welcome to Country and Decolonisation dinner discussion

Our first event was held on ANU campus, overlooking Black Mountain and Lake Burley Griffin. Wally Bell, a Ngunnawal Elder welcomed us to Country and spoke about his upbringing and First Nations Peoples’ relationship with the land. He also discussed Indigenous technologies and foods, as well as some interesting insights into the history of the local area.

Design summit participants listen to panel discussion with event organisers Anna Cain and Angus Mitchell and guest speaker Wally Bell. Image Credit: Charli Fell.

Working in agriculture especially, I often think of food coming from a farm, but Wally spoke to us about how for someone like him with a good understanding of the local country, walking through native bushland can reveal an abundance of natural foods and resources which he likened to a supermarket shelf.

For our summit focussing on Indigenous agriculture and land regeneration, Wally highlighted to us the importance of “listening to Country”. The Australian environment has evolved over many more thousands of years than modern agricultural practices and has adapted to thrive in the unique conditions Australia has to offer. Indigenous land use practices focus on working with Country and making use of natural phenomena to support their food sources. Wally told us that by simply sitting quietly, observing and listening to nature in action, one can begin to understand how the land is operating and what support it might need.

Day Two: Pre-Summit Workshop: What is Development

Day two of the summit was another evening event with a discussion focused on the perspectives through which development can be seen and the importance in understanding diverse lenses through which people see the world. A key focus of EWB Design Summits is for participants to learn about working with community and cross-cultural collaboration, and this session gave us the opportunity to begin to explore this. The evening began with us being split into groups and asked to rank a series of photographs from most to least developed. This first required us to decide on our definition of development and consider whether this related only to technology, or how this could also encompass environmental and social aspects of development. These photos, and discussions with others forced us to consider different perspectives and raised challenging questions that allowed us to identify some of our own cultural biases. Does a large concrete dam show development through complex engineering feats enabling more reliable access to water for humans, or does it also show a lack of consideration for the natural environments it has significantly altered? Do protests indicate progress, freedom of speech and diverse opinions, or a lack of social development if people must advocate for basic rights?

Image Credit: Charli Fell.

This exercise was followed by a discussion of the key outcomes from the activity and some learnings that we would like to take with us into the next two days of the summit. This centred around remaining open minded and ready to learn from Indigenous agriculture and land regeneration experts and keeping in mind that our outcomes should focus on what would be best for the people and environments in the native seeds industry, and not what we think would work best for them through our own ideals.

Day Three: Nguurruu Farm Visit

Day three of the summit involved an all day visit to Nguurruu farm near Gundaroo, where owner Murray Prior is working with local Ngambri custodians to regenerate the land by employing Indigenous knowledge of land use and management practices. Whilst out on the field, Murray showed us some of these practices in action. Contour swales, small water channels following a single elevation along a slope, were being dug in his paddocks to guide water flow and help restore moisture in the soil. Native grasses were being grown that were more adapted to local climate, reducing the need for fertilisers and pesticides, and helping maintain soil moisture and biodiversity. Murray was also running lower stocking rates and rotational grazing for their livestock to ensure the grasses were not overgrazed.

We were also joined by Dan Ganter and Warren Saunders, two Gunggari men involved in the native plants industry. Warren runs a native plant nursery in Canberra that has worked to restore native species to natural spaces across the region. Dan’s company works across Australia to collect and sell native seeds for use in land regeneration. As we explored Nguurruu farm, we were able to learn from their wealth of knowledge about native plants and hear about their experiences and challenges in the native plants industry.

Native seeds collector Dan Ganter speaking to summit participants at Nguurruu Farm. Image Credit: Charli Fell.

Travelling with two experts, we were able to see Wally’s teachings about bush foods abundance in practice, as Dan and Warren were able to identify numerous native grasses by sight and discuss their uses while standing in a single location. We were also surprised by some additional bush food finds such as some water pepper we came across while crossing a river, a native plant that could be used for its peppery, spicy taste, or to help catch fish.

That afternoon, we got the chance to see native grains collection and processing in action. Native grains cannot be harvested using conventional grain harvesters due to their variability and differences from introduced species. This means that Dan and Warren rely on the small range of technologies that have been designed or adapted for the industry or that they have developed themselves.

Image Credit: Charli Fell.

Dan’s harvester was a machine towed behind his ute with a series of rotating brushes to collect seeds from the grass and flick them into a collection box. These brushes allowed seeds to be harvested without damaging or cutting the grass but also meant that the only control over what is harvested is set by the brush height. As most native grains harvesting is done opportunistically from existing stands of grass that can naturally contain many species, this means that the harvested material can contain a range of different seed species as well as plant stems and leaves. Dan also spoke about the dangers they could encounter in grains harvesting as the brushes could throw pointed, spear like seeds into the air which could become lodged in skin, eyes and clothing, potentially causing serious injuries. 

After harvesting, we were given a demonstration of how the seeds are cleaned and sorted. Depending on the application, the level of sorting needed for orders could range from the bulk mixture of seeds and plant matter directly from the harvester, known as mulch, only seeds with their husks on, or singular seed species with all other parts removed. For larger, round seeds this sorting can be done with a series of hand-held sieves adopted from the mining industry that separate grains of different sizes.

Native seeds collector Dan Ganter demonstrating seed sorting techniques. Image Credit: Charli Fell.

Dan’s harvester was a machine towed behind his ute with a series of rotating brushes to collect seeds from the grass and flick them into a collection box. These brushes allowed seeds to be harvested without damaging or cutting the grass but also meant that the only control over what is harvested is set by the brush height. As most native grains harvesting is done opportunistically from existing stands of grass that can naturally contain many species, this means that the harvested material can contain a range of different seed species as well as plant stems and leaves. Dan also spoke about the dangers they could encounter in grains harvesting as the brushes could throw pointed, spear like seeds into the air which could become lodged in skin, eyes and clothing, potentially causing serious injuries. 

After harvesting, we were given a demonstration of how the seeds are cleaned and sorted. Depending on the application, the level of sorting needed for orders could range from the bulk mixture of seeds and plant matter directly from the harvester, known as mulch, only seeds with their husks on, or singular seed species with all other parts removed. For larger, round seeds this sorting can be done with a series of hand-held sieves adopted from the mining industry that separate grains of different sizes.

Image Credit: Charli Fell.

Dan and Warren demonstrated the process of seed sorting by spreading mulch from the harvester onto one of these screens and moving the mixture around until the seeds become caught, before shaking the remaining plant material off the screen.

Manual processes such as these mean that for seed harvesters like Dan, sorting can be time consuming and labour intense. This can mean high workloads to satisfy large orders, which can limit their output, even if the seed stock is available for harvest. As plants grown in native grasslands are rarely of a single species, this can mean even more labour if buyers are looking for only a single type of seed. Because of this, Warren will harvest seeds by hand to get singular species for nursery orders.

Native seeds collector Dan Ganter demonstrating seed sorting techniques. Image Credit: Charli Fell.

Another challenge Dan talked about was the cost and uncertainty that he faced in prospecting native seed harvests. Dan harvests seeds all across Australia and will often have to travel to visit prospective harvest sites. The time when grasses are prime for harvesting is short and can change quickly depending on the weather. This means that Dan may have to make multiple trips to visit a site before travelling up with his harvester when he thinks that the seeds will be ready for harvest. CEAT is currently developing research collaborations focussing on remote sensing that could allow trips like these to be reduced, so that harvesters could travel to sites when they know that seeds will be ready for harvest.

One value that Dan and Warren strive to uphold in their work, which could pose some challenges in a scalable Australian native plants industry is the classification of grains as native. Selective breeding and migration of seeds from their natural growing region may be necessary for a commercial grains industry, but to Dan and Warren this would mean that they are no longer “native” grains. Warren told me about how native plants have evolved to adapt to the exact environment they live in, and to move or breed them would be to remove the “intelligence” that these plants have developed for their environment. One example of this is when native grasses find themselves surrounded by a high density of their own species, they will stop producing seeds to prevent competition with themselves. Although in natural environments this is beneficial, this may have to be selectively bread out of the plans if seeds were to be grown specifically for harvest. The challenge of maintaining a native classification could pose difficulty for a growing commercial bush foods industry where monocultures and selective breeding for more consistent height, or larger seeds could make the yield more efficient and profitable. Whilst this is one important perspective in the industry, it does not necessarily represent all stakeholders and it is possible that we may see a difference in the native plants for land regeneration and those bred and used for food production.

Throughout the many complexities and challenges, they shared with us, Dan and Warren expressed a strong interest in the potential for engineers to work with them to develop new technologies that could help improve their harvesting, to grow the native plants industry and help regenerate Australian land.

Design summit participants at Nguurruu farm with owner Murray Prior. Image Credit: Katie Ross.

Another challenge Dan talked about was the cost and uncertainty that he faced in prospecting native seed harvests. Dan harvests seeds all across Australia and will often have to travel to visit prospective harvest sites. The time when grasses are prime for harvesting is short and can change quickly depending on the weather. This means that Dan may have to make multiple trips to visit a site before travelling up with his harvester when he thinks that the seeds will be ready for harvest. CEAT is currently developing research collaborations focussing on remote sensing that could allow trips like these to be reduced, so that harvesters could travel to sites when they know that seeds will be ready for harvest.

One value that Dan and Warren strive to uphold in their work, which could pose some challenges in a scalable Australian native plants industry is the classification of grains as native. Selective breeding and migration of seeds from their natural growing region may be necessary for a commercial grains industry, but to Dan and Warren this would mean that they are no longer “native” grains. Warren told me about how native plants have evolved to adapt to the exact environment they live in, and to move or breed them would be to remove the “intelligence” that these plants have developed for their environment. One example of this is when native grasses find themselves surrounded by a high density of their own species, they will stop producing seeds to prevent competition with themselves. Although in natural environments this is beneficial, this may have to be selectively bread out of the plans if seeds were to be grown specifically for harvest. The challenge of maintaining a native classification could pose difficulty for a growing commercial bush foods industry where monocultures and selective breeding for more consistent height, or larger seeds could make the yield more efficient and profitable. Whilst this is one important perspective in the industry, it does not necessarily represent all stakeholders and it is possible that we may see a difference in the native plants for land regeneration and those bred and used for food production.

Throughout the many complexities and challenges, they shared with us, Dan and Warren expressed a strong interest in the potential for engineers to work with them to develop new technologies that could help improve their harvesting, to grow the native plants industry and help regenerate Australian land.

Design summit participants develop concepts for hackathon. Image Credit: Angus Mitchell.

My team chose to develop an improved system for cleaning of harvested seeds. Based on the discussions we had with Dan and Warren, we came up with a concept for a vibrating table that could sort and process grains and seeds using existing screens and sieve concept that we were shown. This would take out some of the manual labour of the processing stage, allowing users to sort and process grains and seeds faster and at lower cost. To ensure this system was still applicable for use in field and on sites, we designed it to be simple modular, and easy for users to customise and repair.

With CEAT’s support, this design has been further developed in collaboration with Dan and Warren by Angus Mitchell, a researcher at the ANU and organiser of the EWB Local Design Summit. A final design is currently in the process of being built for a field test in the coming months.

Other teams developed frameworks for an online knowledgebase for the native grains industry and a digital marketplace for native grains and bushfoods. The former would allow those interested in regeneration through Indigenous practices to learn more and connect with Aboriginal custodians and seed collectors, to support relationship building and increase access to farmland for native seed harvesting. A digital marketplace could also help build networks in the bush foods community, build the market for native seeds and foods and help suppliers meet demands by allowing multiple suppliers to collaborate to meet a single order.

Throughout the teaching and practical experiences of this design summit, we were able to learn about a range of challenges and opportunities that exist in the native grains industry and gain some insight into the potential activities that could take place to support its development. This has provided a valuable foundation to inform further research, which CEAT hopes to help carry forward with ANU students and researchers to contribute to the growth and engagement in the native grains industry. Discussions surrounding perspective and the social and cultural implications of design have also given new insight into the importance of thoughtful and sustainable engineering practices.

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