South Africa

ACIAR has funded research with Southern Africa since 1983, completing over 40 projects. Benefits to date have included the empowerment of individual and farmer groups to market and receive a fair price for their cattle, vaccines for Newcastle disease in chickens in several countries, a tick resistance diagnostic test and a tick fever vaccine, selection of Australian trees for difficult sites, identification of low-input fertiliser strategies for crops in risky environments, and demonstration that cattle breeds preferred by emerging farmers have equal growth potential to commercial breeds.

ACIAR has supported IARC projects through the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) in a number of African countries.

Currently, RSA is the sole focus of ACIAR's bilateral and multilateral programs. Australian technical knowledge and expertise is highly relevant because similar temperate, Mediterranean and subtropical production environments are found in the two countries. Further, Australia's advanced extension and farming systems capabilities are relevant in building local capacity to assist the development of the South African farming sector.

The program is guided by the following principles:

• Research partnerships must be focused on delivery of benefits to emerging African farmers.
• Projects will only be considered for RSA and will focus in areas where Australian scientists can add significantly to the skill base by filling 'gaps' in existing South African expertise. In doing so, ACIAR will also look for synergies between its program and those of other South African and international funding agencies, and for potential Australian mutual benefits.