Overview
The Annual Review features highlights and achievements for ACIAR during 2021-22.
The 2021–22 year marked 40 years since the establishment of ACIAR, and throughout the year we celebrated the achievements and impacts of 40 years of agricultural research-for-development.
At the outset of 2022 ACIAR released a 2-part impact assessment of 40 years of research. The quantitative assessment, based on projects representing just 10% of ACIAR investment since 1982, demonstrated a total benefit of A$64 billion, with a A$3.7 billion benefit to Australia.
Coinciding with the release of the assessment was a mid-term review of the ACIAR 10-Year Strategy 2018–2027, commissioned by the Commission for International Agricultural Research.
Notwithstanding the considerable disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, the review concluded that the 10-year strategy is a bold, visionary document that remains fit-for-purpose. It affirmed that ACIAR is held in high regard across the region and delivers value for money and effort, leveraging Australian strengths.
The impact assessment and the review gave us confidence that our well-established but continually evolving research partnership model is delivering against our vision and mission. The ACIAR business model of brokering science partnerships in agriculture, fisheries and forestry between the Australian innovation system and our neighbours in the Indo-Pacific region remains as relevant today as it was when ACIAR was established in 1982.