ACIAR-Indonesia Fisheries consultation February 2007 John Skerritt Deputy Director

ACIAR ACIAR’s Mission: “To achieve more productive and sustainable agricultural systems, for the benefit of Developing Countries and Australia, through international agricultural research partnerships” ACIAR does not carry out R & D itself Total projects value in Indonesia – $9.6m in 2006/07, $11.8m in 2007/08 ACIAR bilateral and IARC projects Australia-Indonesia Partnership funding of $ m (Aceh and SADI-SMAR) Plus short-course and scholarship training

Three consultation meetings aim to: (agriculture/livestock, fisheries, forestry) determine a framework for collaborative research for development activities over the next four year period drive ACIAR’s contribution to the new country development strategy that guides all Australian development assistance activities finalise ACIAR Annual Operational Plan for

Overall Australia-Indonesia development cooperation strategy The April 2006 White Paper ‘Australian Aid: promoting growth and stability’ placed emphasis on: economic growth as being central to poverty reduction strengthening support for private sector-led rural and business development development of lagging regions such as Eastern Indonesia Other emphases: fostering functioning and effective states, investing in people and promoting regional stability and cooperation Single “Whole of Government” strategy being produced for cooperation with Indonesia by mid-2007 investment in agriculture and rural development will form only a few percent of the $ 400m per year program

Funding collaborative R&D – between Indonesia and Australian R&D organisations Contracts developed/managed by discipline specialists covering: crops, livestock, fisheries, forestry, agricultural economics, policy and systems Projects of 1-5 years duration across six research themes Outputs include: new agricultural technologies, stronger institutional and researcher capacity, identification of policy options The way we work…

Program focus Move from a set of individual projects to support a small number of larger, integrated themes or subprograms This means that we cannot operate across all areas of agriculture, forestry, fisheries and natural resource management in Indonesia The identification of the themes for the ACIAR- Indonesia program is based on: Indonesia’s agricultural priorities issues amenable to a practical solution through research presence of systems for adoption of the research results priority to Australia and availability of Australian expertise availability of ACIAR staff and budget resources

Program issues for discussion Sub-sectoral balance (e.g. between aquaculture, capture fisheries, resource management, quarantine, product processing) Alignment of Australian and Indonesian interests Opportunities for greater involvement of communities and the private sector in the program Complementarities with major Indonesian Government programs and donor initiatives How to improve the adoption of research results by end-users (e.g. farmers, industry, policymakers) Priorities for capacity building

Problems amenable to research Priority setting: top-down and bottom-up Problems that R&D may help to solve Indonesian expertise and interest Australian expertise and interest Shared expertise and interest

Geographical focus alignment with the overall Australian aid program Program includes Nusa Tenggara Timur, Nusa Tenggara Barat, South, Southeast and North Sulawesi Australian experience in working in similar environments Collaboration with R&D organisations and policymakers in Java and Western Sumatra important in policy research, biosecurity collaboration and aquaculture Difficult for ACIAR to expand the geographic scope of the program without a major contraction elsewhere In response to the 2004 tsunami, ACIAR commenced some medium-term projects in Aceh

Australia is a major partner in projects Australian benefits of involvement Direct benefits to Australian aquaculture productivity Market information – openly obtained Development of personal networks that are important in trade and fisheries resource co- management Staff development - igniting leadership skills, thinking more broadly across disciplines Understanding policy environment in the region

Developing agribusiness: a common objective It is proposed that the ACIAR program will maintain a focus on high-value commodities for which there is strong export or domestic market demand that are identified as priorities by the GOI for which major constraints require addressing through research In addition to supporting research on productivity enhancement, ACIAR projects will also address related pest, disease, postharvest and market development issues.

Current strategy to improve production systems and add value to Indonesian agricultural (livestock, fisheries, forestry and horticultural) products develop market linkages through greater emphasis on farming as agribusinesses ACIAR’s Indonesian Program has a strong emphasis on R&D to improve farmer and fisherfolk livelihoods

Indonesia – six program themes and current priorities 1. Policy options for Indonesian agribusiness 2. Pest and disease management 3. Productive smallholder aquaculture Sustainable shrimp and finfish farming systems (genetic improvement, disease management, feeds and nutrition) Improved processing, packaging and transport technologies which extend product life and increase market value

4. Sustainable utilisation and management of fisheries and forestry resources Stock assessment and management of shared and common–interest fisheries in Arafura and Timor Seas Development of co-management approaches for aquaculture and wild fisheries in inland open waters 5. Profitable agribusiness systems for Eastern Indonesia 6. Technical cooperation to underpin post-Tsunami rehabilitation of agriculture and fisheries Redevelopment of human capacity and infrastructure for brackishwater aquaculture of shrimp and finfish Needs assessment and resource status of fisheries

Smallholder agribusiness development initiative Four provinces (NTB, NTT, S and SE Sulawesi) An integrated 10 year program: 1.Enhanced smallholder production and marketing (implemented by the KDP Secretariat/ World Bank) 2.Strengthened private sector agribusiness and Small - Medium Enterprise development (implemented by International Finance Corporation) 3.Support for market-driven adaptive research (implemented by ACIAR)

Smallholder Agribusiness Development Initiative Subprogram 3 Support for Market-driven Adaptive Research 1.Adaptive Research and Development market chain and institutional assessments and project funding initial projects identified in workshops (Nov 06-Jan 07) 2.Improved Knowledge Transfer (extension) Processes assess current research-extension linkages and methods develop improved linkages and extension methods utilisation in “pilot extension” trials 3.Institutional Development assist with R&D policies and procedures improved human resources and physical resources

Capacity development priorities also for review and discussion at this meeting Investment in institutional development in Eastern Indonesia Training for researchers/managers involved in ACIAR projects Up to 35 places for postgraduate training in Australia are available for Indonesians at any one time Consultations during 2006 included requests for the following short courses to be provided by ACIAR: Research Management training Commercialisation of research results Integrating social and economic methods for biophysical agricultural researchers Fostering agricultural research-extension linkages Information and Communication Technology Scientific Writing

Increasing project impact Some lessons learnt by ACIAR Collaboration strongest if the topic is a high priority of both Indonesian and Australian partners Engage the ‘right’ technical people Consider fewer and larger projects Involvement of extension organisations and identification of dissemination pathways should be included from project start Involvement of the private sector and NGOs has been successful in other countries Technology-focussed research projects often also need to address cross-cutting issues, including: lack of integration between production and marketing poor access and use of technical and market information policy and regulatory constraints