Improving the profitability and vitality of smallholder cocoa farming families and communities in Bougainville.

Sustainable solutions to protect sweetpotato crop production in Papua New Guinea.

Enhanced fruit production and postharvest handling systems for Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga

Improving the long-term management of Fusarium wilt and the livelihoods of smallholders and communities dependent on export Cavendish bananas production. 

This project aimed to provide Bhutan with a clean healthy source of citrus germplasm so it could produce grafted trees for its citrus industry. Citrus is one of the most important agricultural commodities to the economy of Bhutan; it provides valuable export income for the country, and income and employment for at least 60% of the rural population. The average fruit yield of only 4 tonnes to the acre is, however, well below other Asian counties such as Thailand and Taiwan.

Mitigation of the threat posed by two diseases of bananas - namely fusarium wilt (caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cubense (Foc) and banana blood disease (caused by Pseudomonas celebensi) - has been the objective of two recent ACIAR projects. Foc is devastating smallholder banana farms in Indonesia because of the occurrence of a virulent race, TR4, which overcomes resistance mechanisms that Cavendish bananas demonstrate to other fusarium races.

Native sandalwood (Santalum yasi) is an important forest product throughout its natural range in Fiji and Tonga. This project aimed at establishing the foundation for conservation and domestication of native sandalwood. 

Increasing the accessibility of new and current technology and encouraging a wider smallholder adoption of Canarium, Sandalwood, and Whitewood in Vanuatu.

Supporting the development of innovative wood-processing industries to enhance markets for planted timber resources within Lao PDR and Australia.

Reducing unwanted peatland fires in Indonesia through science to underpin peatland restoration and to develop gender-inclusive sustainable livelihoods in and around peatlands. 

This Small Research Activity (SRA) aimed to develop DNA-based legality verification and chain of custody systems for teak in Laos, Indonesia, Solomon Islands and PNG, where ACIAR has teak projects. In Myanmar and Thailand, it made sure the teak DNA database represents the SE Asian natural forest and plantations from which teak is harvested.

This project aimed to support the scalable establishment of effective and equitable innovation platforms that enhance food security through greater engagement of smallholder farmers with markets.  A decade of economic growth throughout East and Southern Africa is reshaping food value chains, as incomes, urbanisation and demographics influence agricultural markets. But opportunities remain elusive for many smallholders, especially women, to benefit.

Most fish eaten in the Pacific Islands are caught close to shore, but these fisheries are declining due to poor management and rising populations. Many Pacific Island countries are affected by malnutrition and non-communicable diseases, childhood stunting and anemia. This project aimed to improve the wellbeing of men, women and children in Pacific coastal communities through more productive and resilient fisheries and better food and nutrition security. 

Accelerating the development of finfish mariculture by leveraging previous and ongoing ACIAR investments in Indonesia through south-south cooperation.

Supporting increased production capacity and further expansion of community-based sea cucumber farming in Vietnam and the Philippines.

This project aimed to increase the production of tilapia and carp using low-cost and farmer-friendly technologies to improve food and income security for smallholders in Papua New Guinea.

A project aimed at rehabilitating declining capture fisheries in Laos and Myanmar through facilitating greater adoption of fishway technology in the Lower Mekong and Ayeyarwady Basins. 

This project established a sustainable aquaculture industry for giant grouper in Vietnam and the Philippines through the development of captive breeding and larval-rearing techniques. Captive breeding innovations and larval-rearing techniques, developed through a collaborative Fisheries project, are sustaining the aquaculture industry for giant grouper in Vietnam and the Philippines. Groupers are vital to the live reef food-fish trade in South-East Asia, and the giant grouper is a high-value, fast-growing species with significant aquaculture potential. 

This project aimed to increase the adoption of new technologies for sustainable intensification and diversification (SID) in the lowland rice system in north-west Cambodia, towards increasing income for farmers and stronger, more sustainable, and resilient businesses. 

This project aimed to address the threat to wheat production caused by wheat blast in Bangladesh and South Asia by deploying resistant wheat varieties.  With over 160 million people, Bangladesh is one of the world’s most densely populated countries. Wheat is the country’s second most important staple food after rice. 

This project aimed to establish and validate a practical and economically viable system that would enable smallholders in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Pakistan to harvest mungbean mechanically. High labour costs and labour shortages at harvest time constrain mungbean production in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Pakistan. Harvesting costs account for more than half of the crop’s total production costs, preventing expansion at a time when the nutritious legume is in high demand. Rising prices increasingly put mungbean beyond the reach of the poor. 

Building a network to attract new members and investors in mungbean research in southeast Asia and Australia.

Improving rural livelihoods through forest landscape restoration in the Philippines.

This project is increasing returns to labour, particularly for women, through the adoption of new technologies and farming practices that improve coffee quality and total production.

Enhancing the economic development of PNG women smallholders and their families.