Research that works for developing countries and Australia

 

East Timor

  1. Overview
  2. Country Strategy
  3. Priorities
  4. Key Program Managers
  5. Current Projects
  6. Concluded Projects
  7. Achievements
  8. Relevant Publications
  9. Country News and Stories
  10. Country Portfolio
  11. AusAid and Other Briefs
  12. Fellowship Statistics
Overview: 

Agriculture provides livelihoods for more than 80% of the population. The similarities between the environments of East Timor and northern Australia give Australia a comparative advantage in applying research, development and extension skills. ACIAR began collaboration with East Timorese institutions in 2000. Current projects aim to help achieve food security, reduce poverty and build local agricultural research capacity. Two major ACIAR projects commenced in 2001:

  • Seeds of Life
  • rehabilitation of the Agriculture Faculty at the National University of East Timor.

Under the first phase of the Seeds of Life project, a number of improved varieties of staple food crops were identified in field trials in both lowland and highland settings around East Timor. Suitable varieties of sweetpotato, maize, rice, peanut and cassava were identified.

A major successor program, Seeds of Life 2, is being co-funded by AusAID and ACIAR and delivered in close partnership with the East Timor Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF). Significantly, Seeds of Life 2 is an Australian project that is also a program within MAF. This relationship has catalysed strong and effective collaboration. The program commenced in 2005 and concludes in August 2010. It continues the introduction and evaluation of improved crop varieties while devoting more resources to seed production, identification of improved crop management techniques, farmer participatory extension of identified cropping improvements, and training of MAF and other staff in seed production as well as crop research and extension. Promising crop materials from the first phase of Seeds of Life and newer introductions are rigorously and extensively tested through farmer participatory research. Five CGIAR centres and other institutions continue to supply genetic stocks and expertise to maintain the variety pipeline. NGOs are increasingly involved in dissemination of selected and released varieties that are locally well adapted, have tolerance or resistance to pests and diseases, and have demonstrated superior tolerance to drought and soil stresses, combined with high levels of consumer acceptance. Two maize, one peanut, one rice, three sweetpotato and two cassava varieties have been released to date. An adoption survey of 544 farmers involved in on-farm trials showed that 73% had regrown new varieties. Variety adoption has not only increased household food security but often produced surpluses for sale—sometimes for the first time. By project end it is expected that many East Timorese farmers will have adopted improved varieties and cropping technologies, and that the MAF will increasingly manage field crop R&D activities with its own resources. While food aid, especially for rice, continues to risk distorting local markets and hinder incentives for local production, many farmers have adopted Seeds of Life varieties. During early 2010 a successor joint ACIAR–AusAID-funded project to Seeds of Life 2 was designed.

Rehabilitation of the Agriculture Faculty at the National University of East Timor has been important in providing facilities for applied agricultural research, and in training East Timorese in agriculture. The project team has developed a new agriculture curriculum that aims to equip students to identify and solve problems in a farming systems context. Laboratory facilities at the Hera Field Station have been restored to provide practical sessions for science and agriculture students. This facility is the only working agricultural laboratory in East Timor, and a number of foreign donors also use the laboratory in their project activities. In 2006 a small R&D project-funding facility was established to support focused activities addressing high-priority research. In late 2009, building on the concluding mini-projects’ activities, ACIAR scoped longer term support for strengthening of livestock research capacity in East Timor, linking MAF and the university.

Relationship to the Australia–East Timor Country Strategy, 2009–14

The strategy has been developed in parallel with the Government of East Timor’s medium-term strategic development plan. The program is based on four of the government’s key objectives:

1. strengthening basic health and education service delivery
2. increasing employment through investment in increasing agricultural productivity, improving infrastructure, promoting vocational education and developing the private sector
3. improving government accountability, transparency and integrity
4. building the foundations of a safer community.

ACIAR’s program in East Timor specifically supports the second objective.