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Australia's Overseas Aid Program 2000-01

Chapter Six: Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR)

The recovery from the East Asian financial crisis and severe droughts of 1997-98 in many Asia Pacific countries has highlighted the critical importance of agriculture, both for supplying dietary needs and as a potential source of income. ACIAR has a unique and important development role on behalf of the Australian Government in promoting collaborative research partnerships that improve agriculture and natural resource management in developing countries. ACIAR's work contributes to more productive and sustainable systems of agriculture, fisheries and forestry, and to improved rural livelihoods.

ACIAR's mandate is to mobilise Australia's research capacity to help solve the agricultural research problems of developing countries. ACIAR's outcome is to develop international agricultural research partnerships that reduce poverty, improve food security and enhance natural resources management in developing countries and Australia.

ACIAR continues to build strong programs of agricultural research with its developing country partners in support of their rural development. These partners have worked hard to maintain their project commitments in the face of the financial crisis in South East Asia, recognising the crucial role of agriculture in sustaining their recovery from the crisis.

In 2000-01 ACIAR will be supporting more than 150 bilateral research projects in 27 countries, with a primary focus in the Asia Pacific region. Under its multilateral program, ACIAR will support 19 International Agricultural Research Centres (IARCs) through grants that link them to Australia's agricultural research organisations. Approximately three quarters of ACIAR's research and development budget is spent on bilateral programs and one quarter on the multilateral program.

In response to a recent external review, ACIAR is building stronger linkages to other donors through closer collaboration.

The total appropriation for ACIAR in 2000-01 is $44.7 million.

Bilateral Programs

Diagram 15: Estimated bilateral research expenditure by region

ACIAR maintains bilateral programs in agricultural systems economics, agricultural development policy, crop sciences, animal sciences, post-harvest technologies, land and water resources, forestry and fisheries. These programs identify agricultural and natural resource problems of mutual importance to developing countries and Australia, and initiate collaborative research and development projects. Collaboration with partners to apply the results of research through extension and technology transfer is critical.

The major bilateral partners of ACIAR are China, Viet Nam, Indonesia, India, Papua New Guinea, Thailand and the Philippines. The Mekong basin countries are increasingly important to ACIAR's activities, with Viet Nam in particular now a major partner. New partners increase in importance as institution building in countries such as Laos, Cambodia and Nepal takes place. There is a close level of collaboration with AusAID in these initiatives and in the programs in PNG, India and southern Africa.

Examples of projects supported under ACIAR's bilateral programs include:

• research in Northern Thailand and Laos to breed and select varieties of rice that tolerate the highly erratic rainfall and variable soil conditions found in these countries


• biological control of the Siam weed, a serious threat to tropical pastures and the environment in Indonesia, PNG and the Philippines


• improvements to water management methods and the performance of irrigation systems for rice in Viet Nam


• increased wheat yields in Northwest China through the adoption of conservation tillage practices and prevention of soil compaction.

Multilateral Program

Diagram 16:Estimated multilateral research expenditure by region

Through the multilateral program ACIAR provides support for international agricultural research which furthers Australian aid objectives by enhancing rural livelihoods, developing sustainable agriculture and improving natural resource management. Funds are provided to the IARCs for their core programs and also as grants for projects that complement bilateral research and development activities and allow Australian research providers to collaborate with IARCs for mutual benefit. $9.5 million has been allocated to this multilateral program for 2000-01.

Examples of projects funded under the multilateral program include:

• research on rice to produce grains without pollination, benefiting rice farmers worldwide


• development of more efficient decision making systems for small farmers in semi-arid regions particularly in Africa by modelling crop responses to environmental conditions and agronomic practices.

Impact Assessment

ACIAR conducts impact assessment to provide a systematic basis for establishing research priorities and assessing the impact of research activities in both partner countries and Australia.

Funding for Training Programs

ACIAR funds training and development activities to assist the progress and implementation of its research. The John Allwright Fellowship scheme provides fellowships to developing country scientists involved in active ACIAR projects to undertake Masters or PhD training at Australian Universities.

Box 16: Improving mud crab culture in the Philippines and Australia The mud crab is a high value fishery species distributed widely throughout the Indo-West Pacific region. Overexploitation and the catching of small crabs, often for stocking into aquaculture systems, have led to major declines in production. This is becoming a serious problem, particularly in South East Asia. From 1992 to 1996 mud crab production in the Philippines declined by 50 per cent from 4,000 tonnes to 2,000 tonnes, a loss in production valued at $20 million. This has a significant effect on poor coastal communities and represents a major loss of national export income. Since 1995, ACIAR has been working with research institutes in the Philippines and Australia to increase the supply of hatchery-reared juvenile crabs for stocking into aquaculture ponds, to improve culture practices, and to increase productivity. Farmers in both Australia and the Philippines are rapidly adopting the results of this research, testimony to an effective extension program. In the Philippines, nine mud crab hatcheries are being developed. Publication of extension and training materials for crab grow-out is underway. ACIAR is now extending the benefits of this research to Viet Nam and Indonesia. Mud crab hatchery technology has also been successfully applied to other crab species to produce new and value added products for the Australian and international seafood markets.

ACIAR supports cross-program training including a range of short courses on topics such as technical writing in English, research proposal preparation, experimental design and statistical evaluation, research and development priority setting, biotechnology and intellectual property management. The Crawford Fund delivers an important component of the non-formal training. In 2000-01, $610,000 has been allocated to the Crawford Fund.