East and South-East Asia

Previous Papua New Guinea

East & South-East Asia region program 2022–23 

Partner country

No. projects

Cambodia

17

Indonesia

20

Laos

19

Myanmar

3

Philippines

11

Timor-Leste

5

Vietnam

24

 

Note that a project may be conducted in several countries, therefore the total number of projects in this table will be greater than the number of projects in the region.

 

Collectively, the countries of East and South-East Asia are the most populous in the world and an economic powerhouse. Ten of these countries are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and engage closely in terms of trade and investment with east Asian countries, including China and South Korea.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, ASEAN economies were forecast to have some of the highest growth rates in the world over the next 5 years. The IMF and OECD had forecast an average of 5% growth per annum, a higher rate than some of the more developed economies of Europe and North America. The ASEAN economy has consistently outperformed the global economy and is the fifth largest economy in the world, with a combined GDP of A$4.8 trillion in 2018.

As a result of the pandemic, 4.7 million people in South-East Asia were living in extreme poverty in 2021. According to a new Asian Development Bank report presented at the Southeast Asia Development Symposium, 9.3 million jobs disappeared, the region’s GDP shrank by 3.3% and foreign direct investment inflows declined by 33.2%.

Throughout 2020, the number of cases and death rate due to COVID-19 were relatively low in ASEAN countries. However, during 2021, the region experienced substantially higher rates of COVID-19 infection, hindering recovery and economic growth. With only 59% of the region’s population fully vaccinated (as of February 2022), there remains a major risk of widespread unemployment, worsening inequality, and rising poverty levels, especially among women, youth and the elderly, in South-East Asia.

With more than 100 million hectares of agricultural land, the ASEAN countries collectively are a major producer, supplier and exporter of various crops, grains (including rice) and livestock products. Although agriculture only contributes around 10% of total ASEAN GDP, it is the main sector for employment in most member states, accounting for approximately one-third of total ASEAN employment. Given its significant role, the development of the food, agriculture and forestry sectors in ASEAN countries is vital to ensuring equitable and inclusive growth in the region.

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerabilities of food supply chains in the region, prompting calls for the region to become food resilient and sustainable by shortening existing food supply chains and strengthening food systems. The pandemic also heightened the pressure on countries to reverse the trend of underinvesting in the food and agriculture sector. This includes investing in rural logistics, upskilling, research and development, in addition to harnessing the use of digital technology to benefit the farming community.

Food security, food safety and better nutrition remain priority concerns within the region. These priorities align with ASEAN’s goals of agricultural cooperation. Support for women’s economic empowerment, which has become a prominent approach to addressing gender gaps in economic spheres, including agriculture, continues to grow.

Partner countries in the ACIAR East and South-East Asia region

 

Drivers of regional collaboration

The principal driver of regional collaboration in the East and South-East Asia region is the ASEAN, which for more than 50 years has addressed shared challenges and engaged trade and development partners, including Australia and China. Recently, regional collaboration has been driven by critical factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitics, and transboundary concerns.

Trade and investment are the major drivers of economic growth in the region, aided by overseas development assistance. The ASEAN-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement came into force in January 2022 and is expected to help strengthen regional economic integration and provide access to a larger market, which will assist the post-pandemic recovery of the ASEAN economies.

In the agricultural research sector, ACIAR is supporting regional collaboration through support to Asia–Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institutions (APAARI). Cross-border challenges such as plant and animal biosecurity remain prominent and also drive regional integration. In the Mekong region, plant diseases have recently spread across borders, destroying crops of cassava and banana. African swine fever has taken a tremendous economic toll on countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines, Laos and Cambodia. The COVID-19 pandemic has raised biosecurity and One Health (the interface between human, animal and environmental health) as priorities in the region.

Shared concerns about imminent and increasing threats posed by climate change have resulted in ASEAN creating a ‘framework of ASEAN community building, with strategies and actions to enhance regional and international cooperation in supporting adaptation’. In the field of agricultural research and development, regional cooperation plays a significant role, particularly regarding increasing resilience and adaptation to climate change, natural disasters and other shocks.

The South-East Asia region is one of the most natural disaster-prone in the world. Natural disasters threaten food security and rural livelihoods and have economic consequences for the whole region, so disaster mitigation is a common interest among neighbouring countries. The ASEAN Declaration on ‘One ASEAN, One Response’ aims to increase the speed, scale and solidarity of disaster response in the region.

 

ACIAR East and South-East Asia region program

Our program in East and South-East Asia remains the largest across the 4 regions in which ACIAR operates. The nature of our engagement within the region is strongly bilateral, based on robust partnerships with national research systems, long-standing diplomatic connections, and sustained development collaboration with Australia. However, there is a growing trend towards regional collaboration between countries facing shared challenges. This is consistent with the research partnerships under ASEAN, which acknowledge that collaboration among member states is a sensible path towards addressing common challenges in the region.

Region-wide cooperation on forest biosecurity

Our on-the-ground work in South-East Asia primarily occurs with 7 partner countries. However, we do work with development and coordinating organisations based in other countries in the region on issues and programs of regional significance.

For example, in recent decades Thailand has transitioned from aid recipient to aid donor. Thailand hosts regional organisations of relevance to ACIAR programs, including APAARI, the Asian Institute of Technology and the FAO regional office. We also include Thai expertise on projects of regional significance when opportunities arise.

In 2022–23, we have a regional project, ‘Building effective forest health and biosecurity networks in South-East Asia’ (FST/2020/123), that includes partners from Thailand and Malaysia, as well as partners from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos and Vietnam. 

The ASEAN drive towards regional economic integration and connectivity will increase demand from individual countries and regional bodies for research support that harmonises approaches to some agricultural issues across countries, including biosecurity, food safety and climate resilience. We contribute to this by funding regional research collaboration and through our support and chairing of APAARI.

Among our newer regional collaborations in the East and South-East Asia region are efforts to identify efficient biosecurity risk-management systems in the region to respond to prominent outbreaks affecting plant and animal health. For example, Indonesia, the Philippines and Laos are involved in regional research focusing on an integrated system to manage Fusarium wilt (Panama disease) in banana crops with components of biosecurity and disease management.

Another research collaboration focusing on plant biosecurity engages the whole of the Mekong region and China. The research will address serious diseases of cassava through a multipronged strategy involving breeding, surveillance, agronomy and seed systems interventions, coupled with engagement with government institutions and agribusiness.

The incursion of African swine fever to the region in 2019 also provided a strong context for regional collaboration in One Health. An ACIAR regional research collaboration that involves Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos seeks to understand how veterinary service markets might be better managed and governed by agents of government interested in human health, in cooperation with agents interested in agriculture and animal health.

During 2022–23, a series of project will be implemented throughout the region under the ACIAR–IDRC Research Program on One Health (AIRPOH). Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, The Philippines and Timor-Leste will host a portfolio of interconnected projects supporting research that aims to promote new ideas and thinking on the relationship and management of human, animal and environmental health.

Trilateral collaboration and new partnership models are emerging for ACIAR in the East and South-East Asia region. Driving these new partnership models are greater capacities that can be achieved when resources are pooled. This is translating into substantial co-investment from partners such as Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines. While bilateral relationships remain the predominant model for development cooperation in the region, trilateral collaboration is increasingly possible and desired by partner countries.

Opportunities for trilateral research collaboration with Australia in the region include varietal development to manage devastating new diseases in banana, cassava and citrus; machinery innovation for conservation agriculture among smallholder farmers; and research to develop perennial rice varieties.

Securing the future of coconut

Grown in more than 90 tropical countries, on more than 12 million hectares, coconut is important to millions of smallholder households. The future of coconut production and livelihoods is threatened by senile plantings, which face further decline from pest and disease, climate change and poor conservation and management of genetic resources. Access to coconut genetic diversity is vital to sustaining the livelihoods of millions of smallholders and their communities around the world, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.

During 2022–23, ACIAR, DFAT and the International Coconut Community will continue their collaboration to reinvigorate and sustain the Coconut Genetic Resources Network (COGENT). The program will focus on better coconut science, through a global coconut strategy to address the challenges outlined above. The program will work with other organisations to ensure a viable COGENT secretariat to safeguard coconut genetic resources and better address disease threats. The network is active throughout the Asia-Pacific region and led by Dr Jelfina Alouw, Executive Director of the International Coconut Community, who is based in Jakarta, Indonesia.

ACIAR project GP/2018/193

Current and proposed projects in the East and South-East Asia region, 2022–23

Project titleProject codeCountry
Agribusiness  

Agricultural policy research to support natural resource management in Indonesia’s upland landscapes

ADP/2015/043

Indonesia

Understanding the drivers of successful and inclusive rural regional transformation: Sharing experiences and policy advice in Bangladesh, China, Indonesia and Pakistan

ADP/2017/024

Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Pakistan

Inclusive agriculture value chain financing

AGB/2016/163

Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam

Establishing sustainable solutions to cassava diseases in mainland South-East Asia

AGB/2018/172

Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam

Increasing the sustainability, productivity and economic value of coffee and black pepper farming systems and value chains in the Central Highlands Region of Vietnam

AGB/2018/175

Vietnam

Agribusiness-led inclusive value chain development for smallholder farming systems in the Philippines

AGB/2018/196

Philippines

Planning and establishing a sustainable smallholder rice chain in the Mekong Delta

AGB/2019/153

Vietnam

Integrating smallholder households and farm production systems into commercial beef supply chains in Vietnam

AGB/2020/189

Vietnam

Evaluating supply chain interventions and partnerships to sustainably grow the smallholder dairy sectors of Indonesia and the Philippines

AGB/2021/124

Indonesia, Philippines

Creating resilient communities through smallholder-inclusive tourism markets in Indonesia

AGB/2021/125

Indonesia

Piloting digital monitoring of VietGAP compliance and quality in Vietnam vegetable value chains

AGB/2021/153

Vietnam

Food loss in the Pangasius catfish value chain of the Mekong River Basin (Food Loss Program)

CS/2020/209

Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam

Climate Change  

Supporting greenhouse gas inventories and targeted rice mitigation options for Vietnam

CLIM/2019/150

Vietnam

Preparing for mangrove-based climate and agribusiness transformation in the Mekong Delta

CLIM/2021/138

Vietnam

Supporting the tracking sharing learning platform of the Adaptation Research Alliance

CLIM/2022/108

Global

Crops  

International Mungbean Improvement Network 2

CROP/2019/144

Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Myanmar

Weed management techniques for mechanised and broadcast lowland crop production systems in Cambodia and Laos

CROP/2019/145

Cambodia, Laos

Agricultural Innovations for Communities: Intensified and diverse farming systems for Timor-Leste (AI-Com 2)

CROP/2021/131

Timor-Leste

Fisheries  

Harvest strategies for Indonesian tropical tuna fisheries to increase sustainable benefits

FIS/2016/116

Indonesia

Increasing technical skills supporting community-based sea cucumber production in Vietnam and the Philippines

FIS/2016/122

Philippines, Vietnam

Half-pearl industry development in Tonga and Vietnam

FIS/2016/126

Tonga, Vietnam

Assessing upstream fish migration measures at Xayaburi Dam in Laos

FIS/2017/017

Laos

A nutrition-sensitive approach to fisheries management and development in Timor-Leste and Nusa Tenggara Timur Province, Indonesia

FIS/2017/032

Indonesia, Timor-Leste

Baseline monitoring and evaluation of long-term impacts on fish stocks from coral restoration

FIS/2018/128

Philippines

FishTech: Integrating technical fisheries solutions into river development programs across South-East Asia

FIS/2018/153

Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand

Regional coral restoration networks and appropriate technologies for larger-scale coral and fish habitat restoration in the Philippines and Australia

FIS/2019/123

Philippines

Innovating fish-based livelihoods in the community economies of Timor-Leste and Solomon Islands

FIS/2019/124

Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste

Developing social and economic monitoring and evaluation systems in Indonesian tuna fisheries to assess potential impacts of alternative management measures on vulnerable communities

FIS/2020/109

Indonesia

Blue economy: Valuing the carbon sequestration potential in oyster aquaculture

FIS/2020/175

Vietnam

Institutional effectiveness and political economy of coral reef restoration in the Philippines

FIS/2021/112

Philippines

Supporting grouper-farming smallholders in Vietnam to improve their SME businesses by engaging with aquafeed companies to produce commercial feeds

FIS/2021/121

Vietnam

Forestry  

Advancing enhanced wood manufacturing industries in Laos and Australia

FST/2016/151

Laos

Managing risk in South-East Asian forest biosecurity

FST/2018/179

Indonesia, Vietnam

Building an effective forest health and biosecurity network in South-East Asia

FST/2020/123

Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam

Vietnamese native tree species for improved livelihoods

FST/2020/134

Vietnam

Forest restoration for economic outcomes

FST/2020/137

Laos

Retaining the jewels in the crown: Kalimantan peat forest remnants

FST/2021/145

Indonesia

Horticulture  

Supporting an international initiative to maintain the coconut genetic resources network (COGENT)

GP/2018/193

Indonesia

Development of area-wide management approaches for fruit flies in mango for Indonesia, Philippines, Australia and the Asia-Pacific region

HORT/2015/042

Indonesia, Philippines

Developing vegetable value chains to meet evolving market expectations in the Philippines

HORT/2016/188

Philippines

Improving mango crop management in Cambodia, the Philippines and Australia to meet market expectations

HORT/2016/190

Cambodia, Philippines

An integrated management response to the spread of Fusarium wilt of banana in South-East Asia

HORT/2018/192

Indonesia, Laos, Philippines

Preparedness and management of huánglóngbìng (citrus greening disease) to safeguard the future of citrus industry in Australia, China and Indonesia

HORT/2019/164

Indonesia

Safe, fresh, year-round vegetables in Cambodia and Laos through research and development support of whole supply chain agribusiness networks

HORT/2021/143

Cambodia, Laos

Biosecurity planning

HORT/2021/151

Cambodia, Papua New Guinea

Livestock Systems  

Intensification of beef cattle production in upland cropping systems in Northwest Vietnam

LPS/2015/037

Vietnam

Investigating and developing interventions to mitigate food borne parasitic disease in production animals in Laos

LS/2014/055

Laos

Goat production systems and marketing in Laos and Vietnam

LS/2017/034

Laos, Vietnam

Asian chicken genetic gains: A platform for exploring, testing, delivering, and improving chickens for enhanced livelihood outcomes in South-East Asia

LS/2019/142

Cambodia, Vietnam

Global burden of animal disease initiative: Indonesia case study

LS/2020/156

Indonesia

Bacterial enteropathy and nutrition study in poultry

LS/2021/126

Timor-Leste

Rapid transformation of Lao beef sector – biosecurity, trade and smallholders

LS/2021/128

Cambodia, Laos

Global animal health governance: High-level consortium

LS/2021/157

Vietnam

Developing strategies to reduce brucellosis transmission in Timor-Leste based on One Health collaboration (ACIAR–IRDC One Health Research Program)

LS/2022/161

Timor-Leste

Policy support to the Philippines’ national surveillance and control programs for African swine fever, avian influenza and antimicrobial resistance: A One Health systems approach (ACIAR–IRDC One Health Research Program)

LS/2022/162

Philippines

Livestock enhancement through ecohealth/One Health assessment in South-East Asia (ACIAR–IRDC One Health Research Program)

LS/2022/163

Indonesia, Laos, Philippines

Social Systems  

Uptake of agricultural technologies amongst farmers in Battambang and Pailin provinces, Cambodia

ASEM/2013/003

Cambodia

Enhancing livelihoods through forest and landscape restoration

ASEM/2016/103

Philippines

Analysing gender transformative approaches to agricultural development with ethnic minority communities in Vietnam

SSS/2018/139

Vietnam

Next generation agricultural extension: Social relations for practice change

SSS/2019/138

Cambodia

Policy impact in Laos: From research to practice

SSS/2020/142

Laos

Building the evidence base on the impacts of mobile financial services for women and men in farming households in Laos and Cambodia

SSS/2020/160

Cambodia, Laos

The role of agricultural and forest landscapes on human and environmental health in Cambodia (ACIAR–IRDC One Health Research Program)

SSS/2022/164

Cambodia

Soil and Land Management  

Improving community fire management and peatland restoration in Indonesia

FST/2016/144

Indonesia

Land management of diverse rubber-based systems in the southern Philippines

SLAM/2017/040

Philippines

Farmer options for crops under saline conditions in the Mekong River Delta, Vietnam

SLAM/2018/144

Vietnam

Crop health and nutrient management of shallot-chilli-rice cropping systems in coastal Indonesia

SLAM/2018/145

Indonesia

Managing heavy metals and soil contaminants in vegetable production to ensure food safety and environmental health in the Philippines

SLAM/2020/117

Philippines

Validating technologies for assessing and monitoring the impacts of re-wetting of peatland Indonesia using eddy flux towers coupled with the Chameleon sensors

SLAM/2020/118

Indonesia

Evaluation of livelihood zones, rural household trajectories, research and development partners and initiatives in Timor-Leste

SLAM/2021/108

Timor-Leste

Embedding knowledge and exploring future research opportunities in sloping land agricultural systems in northern Laos and Northwest Vietnam

SLAM/2021/152

Laos, Vietnam

Management practices for profitable crop livestock systems for Cambodia and Laos

SMCN/2012/075

Cambodia, Laos

Improving maize-based farming systems on sloping lands in Vietnam and Laos

SMCN/2014/049

Laos, Vietnam

Land suitability assessment and site-specific soil management for Cambodian uplands

SMCN/2016/237

Cambodia

Water  

Water for fish and irrigation in the Mekong

WAC/2021/135

Cambodia, Laos

Next Cambodia