Indonesia

The country's proximity and strategic importance to Australia, together with concerns for half of its population who live in poverty (on under US$2 a day), mean that Indonesia's prominence in ACIAR's program will continue. Major issues that will be specifically addressed in ACIAR's program include human capacity constraints in adaptive research and extension in a system with strong regional autonomy, challenges of natural resource governance, and the need to link with major domestic and international markets.

A key challenge for ACIAR and its partner agencies in Indonesia is to secure practical outcomes for farming communities from the considerable research investment. Several current projects focus on the extension of results from ACIAR projects, while the Smallholder Agribusiness Development Initiative provides additional avenues for greater market and community input to the planning and use of research results. Another opportunity for cooperation is through AusAID via the Australia-Nusa Tenggara Assistance for Regional Autonomy (ANTARA) program in eastern Indonesia, in line with increased emphasis on regional economic development in Indonesia across the broader Australian aid program.

The ACIAR program has a strong focus on partnership, using Indonesian systems for the delivery of programs and projects. We will work with our Indonesian partners to: involve end users such as extension groups and the private sector during the development of projects; more closely integrate project personnel in project activities at the farming community level; and integrate researchers and policymakers where appropriate. In provinces where ACIAR projects are located, we will involve farmer groups and the private sector in consultations on program priorities. We will increase our emphasis on communicating the outcomes of ACIAR projects and linking with major Indonesian government, donor and industry programs. Formal linkages with two major World Bank programs have been established.

The regional balance of investments is influenced by Australian expertise and alignment with the Australian aid program. Continued collaboration with research and development providers and policymakers in Java and western Sumatra is important. This is especially the case for agricultural policy research, biosecurity collaboration, and horticultural and aquaculture research. Indonesia is in a strategic position for Australia with respect to trans-boundary plant and animal diseases, given its close proximity. Eastern Indonesia also remains a high priority for ACIAR. The program includes activities in Nusa Tenggara Timur, Nusa Tenggara Barat, South Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi provinces under both SADI-SMAR and the main ACIAR program. In addition, the design of a program in Papua and West Papua will commence in 2008. In response to the December 2004 tsunami, ACIAR commenced a number of projects in affected communities in Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam. Engagement in Aceh will continue, but will evolve to provide support for increasing farmer incomes from agriculture and fisheries over the medium term.

ACIAR will encourage linkages between the research agencies in agriculture, forestry and fisheries and the policy/ implementation directorate-generals in the same ministries, where appropriate, as well as with other ministries such as the Ministry of Trade. ACIAR will support linkages between the research capacity of institutions in Java and Sumatra and eastern Indonesian adaptive research agencies and planning authorities. In addition, there will be a greater involvement of private sector and other non-government partners in the program.

Animal health projects will value, develop and test surveillance systems that are applicable for all livestock diseases (but with most application to highly infectious viral agents). Assistance in the development of rapid and appropriate responses once diseases are detected will also be a focus. Targeted research will provide the knowledge base to use tools, such as vaccines, most effectively. Increasingly, the impediments to effective disease control are the regulatory and policy environments, particularly development of the cooperation needed to undertake regional initiatives. Opportunities to improve these will be explored. Provincial and central governments will apply the knowledge gained to implement wider control programs. Endemic livestock diseases will also be targeted where there are clear production losses affecting incomes, and a clearly defined pathway to adoption of research results. ACIAR also supports a number of targeted research activities as part of the Australian aid program's commitment to reduce the threat of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in Indonesia and elsewhere in the region.

Fisheries projects have had significant impacts, including in the management of shrimp diseases; rehabilitation of degraded or unproductive shrimp ponds on acid sulfate soils; mariculture of high-value fish and crustaceans; restocking of depleted fisheries; management of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing; and monitoring and harmonising management of shared fish stocks. ACIAR will continue to maintain a large fisheries program in Indonesia and seek opportunities for Australia-Indonesia collaboration on efforts to address IUU fishing. In both fisheries and forestry programs there will be an increased emphasis on balancing environmental and employment issues at a regional level.

In forestry, ACIAR will emphasise both community-based agroforestry systems for income generation in eastern Indonesia and improvement of the sustainability and value capture from major plantation species, including acacia and teak. In keeping with the increased emphasis on collaboration on forests and climate change in Indonesia, researchers will build on the previous program that assessed the economic potential of land-use change and forestry for carbon sequestration and poverty reduction, and on policy research to promote sustainable forest management.

Indonesia is an important partner in projects delivered in conjunction with the International Agricultural Research Centres-namely the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), the International Potato Centre (CIP) and the Asian Vegetable R&D Centre (AVRDC).

ACIAR's participation in the Australia - Indonesia Partnership

The Australian-Indonesian Partnership, comprising $500 million in grants and $500 million in highly concessional loans over five years, was announced in January 2005. Details on the program and ACIAR's involvement are available online.