Date released
26 April 2022
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Man smiling at camera

By Dr Harry Nesbitt

About the author

Dr Harry Nesbitt was the Australian coordinator of the Seeds of Life projects
(2000–2015) in Timor-Leste, through the University of Western Australia.

At that point, it had been about 5 years since ACIAR started distributing seeds and planting material on the ground in Timor-Leste as part of the Seeds of Life project. I served as a reviewer then eventually a program coordinator in different phases of the project, which had a goal to improve food security through increased productivity of major food crops, such as sweetpotatoes and cassava. In response to low seed stocks in 2000, the most appropriate of the world’s best crop varieties were introduced. Testing these varieties under a range of environments in Timor-Leste was a time-consuming process requiring scientific rigour. Thousands of on-farm trials were conducted. The farmers themselves chose which varieties they wanted to grow and eat. Newly released maize varieties increased yields by 50% and some new sweetpotato varieties doubled yields over their traditional varieties. Over time, the farmers certainly came to trust and value ACIAR.

In my experience, providing a strong scientific perspective is what makes ACIAR stand out in the crowded international development space. Even before Timor-Leste officially became an independent country in 2002, ACIAR was able to leverage its partnerships with various CGIAR centres to provide germplasm and other assistance to help Timor-Leste strengthen its agricultural development sector. That’s something that other development projects would’ve found difficult to do.

Throughout my 35-year career in development agriculture, I’ve worked for the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and other organisations. Although those institutions help fund the CGIAR centres, they don’t have a direct scientific interaction with the centres, whereas ACIAR does. I think that’s reflected not only in the operation of ACIAR projects, but also their impact evaluation. ACIAR projects are designed to have a long-lasting scientific impact, which is probably not so strong in projects funded by other organisations. That’s one of the advantages of working in an ACIAR project and the results speak for themselves. When Seeds of Life ended in 2016, it had helped over 65,000 farming families gain access to 19 improved varieties of high-yielding certified seed for food crops.

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Four people stand side by side in an outdoor setting - smiling and facing camera.

The project was also key to helping ACIAR achieve one of its objectives—developing a trusting long-term relationship with Timor-Leste’s Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. ACIAR prefers to engage with country partners on a long-term basis in part because the real benefits of agricultural research can only be maximised over the long haul. Seeds of Life was a great opportunity because after launching in 2000, it continued for 16 years. In that time, the project was instrumental in building up Timor-Leste’s scientific infrastructure and human resources. We helped to develop a couple of excellent research stations, provided equipment, constructed buildings and developed the seed cleaning systems, among other things.

Importantly, between 2006 and 2015, Seeds of Life trained 2,600 people, including farmers, NGO staff, employees from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, and others. That way the local government had the capacity to continue to multiply and distribute seeds even after the project ended. We also helped to develop capacity on Timor-Leste’s national seed system and was instrumental in the formulation of a national seed policy.

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Two people inspecting plant in greenhouse

Importantly, between 2006 and 2015, Seeds of Life trained 2,600 people, including farmers, NGO staff, employees from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, and others. That way the local government had the capacity to continue to multiply and distribute seeds even after the project ended. We also helped to develop capacity on Timor-Leste’s national seed system and was instrumental in the formulation of a national seed policy.

I think the legacy in agricultural projects that I’ve worked on is always in the personnel. As long as you have trained personnel who have the capacity to continue to do the research and seek modification when needed then you’ve got a long-term legacy whose impact stretches beyond just one project. I’ve seen that impact play out over the years. Some of the personnel we trained in Seeds of Life have worked on subsequent development projects for ACIAR, the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and others.

Ultimately, ACIAR distinguishes itself by not having a typical development attitude. When a developed country provides aid to a developing country, the project would likely be designed, funded and overseen by the developed country, its government and associated agencies. But sometimes, implementation may not go exactly the way developing countries want it to go.

ACIAR has carved out its own niche in Timor-Leste and other developing countries by not enforcing a pre-packaged project. 

With ACIAR there’s a tendency to work closely with partner countries to design a project, build up the local government’s scientific capacity then support local groups in actually implementing the project. 

It’s a slightly different attitude to the status quo, but an important one that has characterised the numerous projects I’ve worked on and I hope will continue to define ACIAR for years to come.