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2012

15/05/2012	Commissioners with representatives from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) following a tour of the Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BecA) Hub laboratories, Nairobi, March 2012.	Commissioners visit Africa Members of the Commission for International Agricultural Research had a successful visit to Tanzania and Kenya in March 2012. They gained a first-hand understanding of agricultural research and development priorities and policy directions in Africa.
09/05/2012		ACIAR and the 2012-13 Federal Budget The 2012-13 Commonwealth Budget, presented on 8 May 2012, has allocated $101m to ACIAR, with an additional $34.6m from AusAID. Details on the Full Budget can be found at the Government's Budget website www.budget.gov.au. The ACIAR Porfolio Budget Statement is at http://www.dfat.gov.au/dept/budget/2011_2012_pbs/2001-12-PBS-Foreign-Aff.... The 2012-13 International Development Assistance Budget statement at the AusAid website http://www.ausaid.gov.au/media/latest.cfm. Regional allocations for ACIAR’s total research and development (R&D) project budget in 2012-13 are:
03/05/2012	A pig farmer from Dong Nai province, Vietnam, who benefitted from previous ACIAR-supported pig projects.	Wanted: Volunteer agricultural research officer in Hanoi An Australian volunteer is being sought to work on an ACIAR research project that is helping the Vietnamese pig industry improve productivity and reduce animal and human health risks.
02/05/2012	Dr Satya Nandlal of the Queensland University of Technology, with the highly produtive Machrobrachium rosenbergii prawn from Vietnam that was tested under Fijian aquaculture conditions (Photo: R. Markham)	Nurturing Pacific and Indigenous aquaculture A session on aquaculture development by Pacific Islanders and Indigenous Australians is being sponsored by ACIAR at the Australasian Aquaculture 2012 conference in Melbourne on Thursday 3 May 2012.
15/03/2012	Delegates at the Global Conference on Women in Agriculture, including six women partners in ACIAR projects and representatives of Australian Women in Agriculture (Source: AWiA)	Global Conference on Women in Agriculture ACIAR sponsored six women involved in ACIAR projects to attend the 'Global Conference on Women in Agriculture' held in New Delhi, India on 13-15 March 2012.
07/03/2012		Celebrating women’s contribution to PNG agriculture To mark International Women’s Day, 8 March 2012, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) is highlighting the important contribution of Papua New Guinea’s women agricultural researchers to empowering rural women to end hunger and poverty.
15/02/2012	UNFF logo for the International Year of Forests	ACIAR'S forestry research in Pacific island countries Forests and trees have great cultural significance for Pacific island people and provide many benefits for subsistence and livelihoods. In some of the Pacific island countries, such as Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji, forests have also been commercially exploited and forest industries are important contributors to the national economies. Forests are held under custom landownership, but governments regulate commercial forestry operations. While timber is important, there are many non-timber forest products, which provide significant cash incomes for people in remote locations.
17/01/2012	Australian and Indian project scientists discuss ICAR-ACIAR field trials at the Directorate of Wheat Research, Karnal (Photo: MS Saharan) Dr Subanna Ayyappan (photo: CIMMYT)	Seminar on India’s priorities for agricultural research India’s most senior agricultural research leader, Dr Subanna Ayyappan, Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), presented a seminar on the country’s research priorities at CSIRO Plant Industry in Canberra on Wednesday 18 January 2011.
16/01/2012	Stephanie Belfield and Bob Martin (front) with farmers and partners from CARE at a farmers field day in Pailin, NW Cambodia (Photo: M.Gyles)	'Changing Lives' in Cambodia Two Australian agricultural researchers working with farmers in Cambodia on ACIAR projects are featured in 'Changing Lives’, a new TV series being aired on Australia Network, and now available on youtube.

2011

07/12/2011	Testing new vegetable varieties at the Kastom Garden in Solomon Islands	Volunteering opportunities Ever thought of becoming a volunteer in a developing country for 12 months? There are several opportunities available through Australian Volunteers for International Development with applications closing on Xmas Day.
09/11/2011	UNFF International Year of Forests Logo	ACIAR's forestry research in Indonesia Indonesia has a population of 230 million people, about half of whom live in rural areas with some dependence on forests. Indonesia has around 95 million hectares of forest, which includes some of the world's most diverse tropical forests and about 44 million hectares of primary forest. It is expanding its plantation estate, which now stands at about 3.5 million hectares of which 1.6 million hectares is Acacia mangium. The Indonesian forest industries are large, annually producing about 13 million tonnes of pulp and paper products and about 5 million cubic metres of wood panels each year.
02/11/2011		Perth Declaration on Food Security Principles From the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth, Australia, 28-30 October 2011
28/10/2011	Kenyan farmers are set to benefit from the new Centre. Photo: M.Gyles An African smallholder and her daughter feed their cattle on an Ethiopian farm involved in ACIAR's SIMLESA program. Photo: M.Gyles A young boy standing amongst his family's maize crop in Ethiopia involved in ACIAR's SIMLESA program. Photo: M. Gyles	Australian International Food Security Centre The AIFSC is undertaking consultations with African and Australian stakeholders to identify priorities for its programs. In February an ACIAR-led delegation visited a range of African regional and national research institutes in South Africa, Kenya and Ghana. The key objectives were to open a dialogue on the scope of the centre, and to obtain views on preferred thematic research priorities from African agricultural research representatives.
21/09/2011	ACIAR Policy Advisory Council members, from left to right: Mr Jia Jingdun (China), Dr Pat Faylon (Philippines), Dr Muhammad Tusneem (Pakistan), Mr Brown Bai (PNG), Dr Monthathip Chanphengxay (Lao PDR), Prof Beth Woods (Australia, President), Dr Men Sarom (Cambodia), The Hon. Prof Ruth Oniang'o SS DSM (Kenya), Dr Yusdar Hilman (Indonesian representative), Dr Nick Austin (ACIAR), Mr Ian Kershaw (AusAID), Dr Nguyen Van Bo (Vietnam)	ACIAR policy advisors visit Australia ACIAR's Policy Advisory Council is visiting Canberra and the Northern Territory from 19-23 September 2011 for annual consultation meetings.
29/08/2011		World Congress on Conservation Agriculture, 26-29 September 2011 - incorporating Farming Systems Design and Landcare The Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) have joined forces to host the fifth World Congress on Conservation Agriculture (WCCA) incorporating the third Farming Systems Design Conference in Australia this year.