Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research

ACIAR's bilateral work will implement new programs under the Food Security through Rural Development initiative in conjunction with ongoing country programs. A key component of ACIAR expenditure will be investment to support the Food Security initiative through sustainably enhancing agricultural productivity and profitability in specific partner countries:

• Improving the productivity of rice‑based farming systems in South and Southeast Asia.

• Climate change adaptation in the rice‑based farming systems in the Mekong and South Asia.

• Identifying opportunities for developing high‑value agricultural, forestry and fisheries products in the Pacific.

• New programs improving the profitability and market linkages of smallholder mariculture in the Philippines, crop and livestock production in the lagging regions of Vietnam, and vegetable and coffee industries in PNG.

ACIAR will continue to align its investment to poorer countries and, in particular, lagging regions within partner developing countries. In part these areas will be the focus of a continued shift to larger, multidisciplinary projects that integrate across ACIAR's research and development program. Priorities for 2009‑10 include:

• Improving productivity of smallholder crops, forestry and acquaculture in PNG through technology innovation and improving marketing within a socio‑cultural context that reduces constraints to adoption.

• Contributing to the design of the second phase of the Smallholder Agribusiness Development Initiative in Eastern Indonesia, as well as implementing the agricultural research and development and capacity-building components.

• Managing the research and extension component of the AusAID‑funded Cambodian Agricultural Value Chain program, focusing on accelerating growth in the value of agricultural production and smallholder incomes in selected provinces through improved productivity of rice-based farming systems.
• Supporting new initiatives in the Pacific to improve the profitability of the plantation tree crop sector. Together with a focus on high‑value fisheries resources by integrating community aquaculture and mariculture and stock assessment and planning for sustained use of inshore fisheries.

• Enhancing, through research in PNG, smallholder incomes through better production, quality and marketing of horticultural, root and export tree crops, village‑based aquaculture and smallholder fisheries and forestry and agroforestry systems, together with sustainable management of important forestry and fisheries resources.

Expanded multilateral funding will be provided as core support to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). This will support the ongoing reform process of the CGIAR system. Some other multilateral funds will be directed to ACIAR's bilateral project funding that supports country specific programs run in partnership with Australia under the overseas aid program.

Training programs will develop the skills of partner country research scientists involved in ACIAR projects, through formal training courses, and informal project activities and interactions, including:

• Continuing two fellowship schemes, the first of which offers developing country scientists post‑graduate study opportunities in Australia and the second via short‑term research management training of outstanding leaders.

• Continued support through the ATSE Crawford Fund for training activities many of which complement ACIAR training and projects.

ACIAR will communicate its results from research activities via electronic media and publications raising awareness of research and development activities through:

• Scientific publications produced and disseminated, including through the ACIAR website, CD‑ROMs and in hard‑copy formats.

• Implementing a website strategy that supports and encourages project and stakeholder collaboration and interaction.

ACIAR will commission independent studies of the impacts arising from projects through the ACIAR Impact Assessment program, working closely with AusAID's Office of Development Effectiveness:

• Five major studies of projects or suites of projects will be undertaken to assess their impacts, including assessing economic growth, environmental, social and capacity building wherever possible.

• An adoption study will also be commissioned for all large projects (greater than $0.4 million) completed in 2005‑06, where no follow-on projects were undertaken, to determine the level of adoption.