Australian Program to Boost Rural Sector in Eastern Indonesia

The Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, Bill Farmer, visited Makassar today to launch an Australian program designed to increase rural growth and lift household incomes in Eastern Indonesia.

The A$38 million (Rp 266 billion) Smallholder Agribusiness Development Initiative (SADI) will concentrate on improving farmer productivity, establishing better access to markets and adding value to products both on and off the farm. The initial phase of the program will focus on four provinces of South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, West Nusa Tenggara, and East Nusa Tenggara.

“Eastern Indonesia is a region with significant potential, and the rural sector plays an important role in the regional economy. Yet despite past efforts, productivity and incomes here remain low,” Mr Farmer said.

“SADI takes a more systemic approach, and will simultaneously tackle different aspects of the problem in order to achieve a positive impact.”

“Spanning ten years, this program is a longer-term commitment to developing the rural sector in Eastern Indonesia and complements a range of other Australian and Government of Indonesia projects in the region, all with the broad objectives of generating economic growth and reducing poverty,” Mr Farmer said.

SADI contains three sub-programs: enhancing smallholder production and marketing; strengthening private sector agribusiness and developing small to medium enterprise; and supporting market-driven adaptive research and development.

“Every development project Australia undertakes in Indonesia is a partnership. In this case, SADI is a partnership between Australia’s international aid agency, AusAID, and Indonesia’s National Development Planning Agency, BAPPENAS,” Mr Farmer said.

Australia is funding three leading international development agencies to implement the program: the World Bank, International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR).

A program management office is being opened today in Makassar.

Further information:
Mia Salim – (Public Affairs, AusAID) 08121070237