30 years of commitment to food security and poverty reduction

Indonesia and Australia today celebrate 30 years of agricultural innovation through research partnerships to deliver food security and overcome poverty.

Indonesia and Australia began cooperation in agricultural research in 1983 with research projects funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR).

The Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, Mr Greg Moriarty, said Australia was committed to assisting Indonesia to achieve lasting food security and overcome poverty in rural areas.

“Through ACIAR-Indonesian partnerships, agriculture industries are creating opportunities for smallholder farmers to share in the country’s recent growth,” Mr Moriarty said.

Australia’s aid program will provide an estimated A$646.8 million (more than IDR6.24 trillion) in official development assistance in 2013-14. As part of Australia’s aid program, ACIAR is delivering results to smallholder farmers, through partnerships with Indonesian agricultural research and development agencies, major companies and finance providers.

ACIAR-Indonesia research partnerships are creating opportunities for poor farmers in livestock, cropping, fisheries and forestry industries, and building capacity in areas of emerging challenges such as climate change and avian influenza management.

ACIAR supports projects that target Indonesian Government priorities to help the poorest farmers access research advances that they would otherwise not see.

“Working together Australia and Indonesia have helped poor farmers gain access to world-leading Australian research expertise and have helped transform Indonesia’s research sector into a regional leader,” Mr Moriarty said.

More than 230 projects have been completed through an investment of more than A$160 million. Key achievements include more than $10 billion in benefits accruing to Indonesia from joint ACIAR-Indonesia projects, trilateral research cooperation between Indonesia, Australia and Timor Leste, and more than 75 Indonesian scientists gaining postgraduate research qualifications in Australia.

As part of the 30th anniversary celebrations, Ambassador Moriarty will meet with the Commission for International Agricultural Research, which provides advice to Australia’s Foreign Minister.

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