Profile: Alina Saeed, Agriculture Manager, MRIC – Vic Hub’s North-West Irrigated Horticulture Node

September 25, 2023

Alina Saeed, Agriculture Manager, Mallee Regional Innovation Centre (Vic Hub’s NW Irrigated Horticulture Node)

Joining the Mallee Regional Innovation Centre (MRIC) team has helped Alina Saeed to reconnect with the agricultural industry, which she first became passionate about when growing up and working in Pakistan.

Alina began as MRIC’s new Agriculture Manager in May, taking a lead in developing and executing projects and activities that MRIC leads as the North-West Irrigated Horticulture Node of the Victoria Drought Resilience Adoption & Innovation Hub.

She brings to the role some 14 years of experience in agriculture, and has managed projects in livelihoods, food security, micro credits, improving post-harvest value chains, building cold-chain infrastructure and business to business linkages. Much of Alina’s work in Pakistan was in post-conflict and post-disaster-recovery scenarios.

“Working in the agriculture sector has always been a passion for me, but after migrating to Australia in 2016 there were only intermittent opportunities for interaction,” Alina said.

“With a full-time job and raising a young family, I recently completed a Master of Agricultural Sciences from the University of Melbourne.

Pictured At the Vic Hub’s Innovation Showcase in June 2023, were L-R, rear: Emma Coath, Tina Funder, Professor Colin Barrow and Andrea Cross , with (front) Alina Saeed and Vi Nettheim. (Both Emma (ep6) and Andrea (ep1) were in the Innovation AG podcast; find their tips on innovating on our Podcast page: https://vicdroughthub.org.au/podcast/)

“In a way I strived to be where I am today. It is exciting to be at the heart of MRIC activities and play my role as a migrant to this beautiful region.”

Alina began by meeting with various stakeholders across government and industry, attending events, and learning more about the Mallee’s agricultural landscape. She is looking forward to supporting MRIC’s work and goals in the region.

“What I have learnt in life is that situations arise, but they bring new opportunities to innovate, adapt and build your resilience,” Alina said.

“Questions that you are trying to address have answers embedded in the situations and with the people experiencing those situations. We are doing the same through MRIC.

“The Centre has a unique role to play in facilitating a Mallee-centred collaborative innovation network to drive research and development that supports regional transformation, and I am eager to contribute with the experience I have.”