Content uploaded by W. Erskine
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by W. Erskine on Dec 17, 2013
Content may be subject to copyright.
ORIGINAL PAPER
Improving food security through agricultural research
and development in Timor-Leste: a country emerging
from conflict
Lourenco Fontes Borges & Adalfredo do Rosario Ferreira & Deolindo Da Silva &
Robert Williams & Rebecca Andersen & Alex Dalley & Brian Monaghan &
Harry Nesbitt & William Erskine
Received: 1 July 2009 / Accepted: 4 September 2009 / Published online: 6 October 2009
#
Springer Science + Business Media B.V. & International Society for Plant Pathology 2009
Abstract Timor-Leste is a small, poor and predominantly-
agricultural nation of less than 1 million people. Most families
suffer from chronic food insecurity practising food rationing
1–6 months of the year. The small size of Timor-Leste, its
recent birth as a nation and conflict history, together with little
previous research on staple crops make it a unique crucible to
test the effect of a major post-conflict initiative of agriculture
research on national food security. Research started in 2000
with the introduction of germplasm of staple crops (maize,
peanut, rice, cassava and sweet potato). Replicated trials
confirmed by extensive evaluation in farmer-managed trials
revealed significant yield advantages over the local cultivar in
maizeof53%,inpeanutof31%,inriceof23%andinsweet
potato of 80%, accompanied by improvements in size and
eating quality. Cultivars of maize (2), peanut (1), rice (1) and
sweet potato (3) were released in 2007. One year later an early
adoption study of 544 farmers involved in on-farm trials
showed that 73% had re-grown new cultivars. Cultivar
adoption not only increased household food security but often
produced surpluses for sale in the market—sometimes for the
first time. The project is planning to increase seed production
and dissemination to move from a highly positive pilot-scale
impact in six Districts to impact food security nationally.
Keywords Food security
.
Timor-Leste
.
Agricultural
research
.
On-farm evaluation
Introduction
Timor-Leste (Fig. 1) is a small country with a population
0.94 million (DNE 2004), predominantly (85%) engaged in
agriculture, covering c. 15,000 km
2
and administratively
divided into thirteen districts (Fig. 2). The terrain comprises
narrow coastal plain and dissected uplands. The climate is
tropical dominated by summer rainfall varying from annual
means of 600 mm in the North-West to 3,000 mm in the
highlands with an extended dry season particularly in the
North of the country (Barnett et al. 2007 ). The diet is
dominated by the cereals maize and rice and by the tubers
of sweet potato and cassava. From 2005 to 2008 the
average annual production (t) of maize was 83,400 t, of rice
59,527 t, of sweet potato 21,739 t and cassava 48,407 t
(FAO 2009). In 2002 81% of households grew maize, 68%
cassava and 44% sweet potato (Tilman de sa Benevides
2003). A typical farming operation in Timor-Leste is unable
to derive a high level of personal income from 1 to 2
hectares of land. In fact, during 2008 more than half of the
nation’s rural population live d below the poverty line of US
$0.88 per day (World Bank 2008). Most of these families
suffer from food insecurity (WFP 2006) producing insuf-
ficient cereal staples of m aize or rice to last a full
12 months. Seven out of ten families surveyed during
2007 (SoL 2008) went without maize for four or more
months. All were forced to practise food rationing from one
L. F. Borges
:
A. do Rosario Ferreira
:
D. Da Silva
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries,
Comoro, Dili, Timor-Leste
R. Williams
:
R. Andersen
:
A. Dalley
:
B. Monaghan
:
H. Nesbitt
Seeds of Life East Timor,
PO Box 221, Dili, East Timor
R. Williams
:
R. Andersen
:
A. Dalley
:
B. Monaghan
:
H. Nesbitt
:
W. Erskine (*)
Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture (CLIMA),
The University of Western Australia,
35 Stirling Highway,
Crawley, WA 6009, Australia
e-mail: william.erskine@uwa.edu.au
Food Sec. (2009) 1:403–412
DOI 10.1007/s12571-009-0037-8
to 6 months of the year; many gathered wild food regularly,
and the worst affected families consumed the seed they had
set aside for planting in the next season. Food insecurity is
partly the result of low levels of food production—a
consequence of poor land and the generally low levels of
technology, combined with high crop losses, both pre- and
post-harvest.
Timor-Leste is e merging from conflict and there is
tremendous potential for the country to not just rehabilitate
old systems but to design and implement new ones that are
market-driven and provide holistic rural development. Several
approaches may be taken but first there is a need to establish a
high degree of food security in rural and metropolitan areas.
Longley et al. (2006) suggest that rural livelihoods can be
protected and improved by the following measures:
& Ensure that vulnerable farme rs have access to agricul-
tural inputs and services (seed, irrigation, pest control,
animal health, micro-finance, extension), either through
direct distribution or interventions designed to stimulate
choice such as vouchers
& Increase agricultural production through access to
appropriate technology options
& Increase rural incomes through the promotion of
agricultural product and labour markets
& Establish the capacity, structures and institutions
necessary for the sustainable delivery of inputs and
services
& Promote reforms necessary to address the structural
causes of vulnerability.
All these interventions rely heavily on direct Govern-
ment involvement, at least initially. Government direction
in formulating a market-oriented rural economy is particu-
larly relevant in Timor-Leste where the Government
purchases a large amount of grain, particularly rice, for
use as food subsidies to supplement national production
shortfalls. The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF)
also manages agricultural extension programs. It is essential
for farmers to access appropriate technology options to
improve food security on the farm and to eventually
generate surpluses for sale.
Fig. 1 Location of East Timor (Timor-Leste) in SE Asia (extract from Google map)
404 L.F. Borges et al.
Improved crop cultivars for food security
in Timor-Leste
Ensuring availability and continuing supply of improved
seed of food crops has proved successful in catalysing the
process of improving food security in post conflict
situations in other parts of the world (Sperling et al. 2008;
Erskine and Nesbitt 2009). After the Khmer Rouge regime
in Cambodia, for example, when food production was
dramatically reduced, improved rice seed was imported
from the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and
other research programs for testing in the nation’s various
rice growing ecosystems (Nesbitt 1997). Rice cultivars lost
during the Khmer Rouge regime wer e also repatriated from
the international rice genebank at IRRI. The number of
cultivars was depleted when seed was consumed by farmers
during food shortages, after seed was mixed when
communal seed banks were established, or as a result of
the enforced migration of farmers to unfamiliar r ice
ecosystems (CIAP 1994). A thirteen year research/exten-
sion program, conducted between 1988 and 2001 resulted
in rice yields increasing from 1.45 t/ha to 2.1 t/ha. Varieties
sourced from IRRI, Cambodia, Thailand and Nigeria were
released and grain production increased by more than 50%
as it became more economically viable for extra area to be
planted to the crop (Young et al. 2001). The extra
production was valued at US$1.3 billion at 2001 rice
prices. A similar increase of 45% in grain production of
food crops in Timor-Leste would substantially reduce food
insecurity problems and provide surpluses for export.
The small size of Timor-Leste, its recent birth as a nation
and associated conflict history, together with the lack of
earlier sustained and systematic research on key staple
crops make it a unique crucible to test the effect of a major
post-conflict initiative of agriculture resear ch and develop-
ment on national food security.
The Research Program
The MAF in Timor-Leste is addressing food security
through a focus on problems of poor germplasm and seed
quality in a targeted research, seed production and
distribution, and capacity building program (within a new
Fig. 2 Districts of East Timor (Timor-Leste) and trial site distribution (triangles)
Food Security in Timor-Leste 405
Research Department in MAF). These activities com-
menced soon after the vote for independence in 1999 under
the Seeds of Life (SoL)—Timor-Leste program (da Costa et
al. 2003). The key focus of research was maize, sweet
potato, rice, cassava and peanuts. Cultivars of these crops
from similar agro-ecologica l environmen ts in other
countries were identified by research centres within the
Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research
(CGIAR). These included IRRI which offered assistance
with the evaluation of rice cultivars, the International Maize
and Wheat Centre (CIMMYT) with maize, the International
Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) with cassava and
beans, the International Potato Centre (CIP) with sweet
potato and the International Crops Research Institute for the
Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) with peanuts. Several Non-
Governmental Organisations (NGOs) including World
Vision International (WVI) and Catholic Relief Services
(CRS) offered assistanc e with establishing and managing
trials. The program was funded by the Australian Centre for
International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). Cultivars that
were higher yielding than local cultivars were identified in
replicated trials conducted on research stations to 2006.
Meanwhile the emphasis in SoL shifted to an extensive
system of the participatory evaluation of promising lines for
release with growers under their conditions on-farm. In the
2007–2008 season, for example, on farm trials included
243 maize, 190 sweet potato, 87 cassava, 190 peanut and
77 rice trials. The percentage distribution by District was
16% in Alieu, 31% in Baucau, 16% in Manufahi, 25% in
Liquica, 5% in Manatutu and 7% in Ainairo. A greater
number and distribution of trials is underway in the 2008–
2009 season (SoL 2009c).
Sufficient data, varying across cultivars from 175 to 668
on-farm trials, were gathered on four of the key food crops
for the Varietal Release Committee of MAF to release
seven new cultivars in March, 2007 (Table 1):
& Maize—Suwan 5 and Sele
& Peanut—Utamua
& Rice—Nakroma
& Sweet Potato — Hohrae 1, Hohrae 2 and Hohrae 3
After reviewing the results of trials conducted during
2007–2008 and a summary of results over the enti re
program period, two cassava cultivars will be recommen-
ded for release later in 2009. It may also be possible to
release another rice cultivar at the end of 2009 and new
sweet potato cultivars in 2010.
Yield advantages of the released cultivars over those
traditionally grown are highly significant (Table 1) and farmers
prefer their size (sweet potatoes, maize, peanuts), and eating
qualities (sweet potatoes, maize, rice). Farmers’ opinions of
the released sweet potato cultivars are presented in Table 2
and the preferences for Nakr oma rice are presented in Table 3
expressing what the farmers look for in new cultivars. Higher
yield is not always the highest priority for farmers. Household
surveys conducted in more than 1500 farm households over
4 years recorded and analysed livelihood information to
examine these preferences (SoL 2007;SoL2008;SoL2009c).
Extra surveys specifically targeted adoption constraints by
gender (SoL 2009a) and various socio-economic groups (SoL
2009b). The SoL team was aware of these consumption trends
and is keen to measure the level of adoption and the impact of
the new cultivars on farm households.
Seed production
The distribution and spread of new crop cultivars relies on
the farmers receiving high quality seed that they can depend
on to possess the traits they require. A cost-effective and
sustainable seed multiplication and dissemination system
should be established to meet the farmers’ needs. There are
a number of methodologies to meet this requirement
ranging from Government controlled systems to village-
based seed enterprises (Bishaw and van Gastel 2009). The
latter involves stimulatin g community-based seed busi-
Table 1 Yield advantage of MAF/Seeds of Life cultivars over traditional cultivars
Crop Cultivar Tested as Source Yield
(t/ha)
Yield advantage
over local cultivar
# on-farm trials
Maize Sele LYDMR (late maturing
downy mildew resistant)
CIMMYT 2.4 44% 668 trials over 2 years
Suwan 5 SW5 Thailand 2.6 53% 448 trials over 2 years
Peanuts Utamua PT5 ICRISAT 1.9 31% 481 trials over 3 years
Rice Nakroma PSBRC54 IRRI 3.9 23% 175 trials over 3 years
Sweet potato Hohrae 1 CIP 1 CIP 5.1 66% 198 trials over 2 years
Hohrae 2 CIP 6 CIP 5.5 80% 198 trials over 2 years
Hohrae 3 CIP 7 CIP 5.5 80% 198 trials over 2 years
406 L.F. Borges et al.
nesses as local rural enterprises which in turn contributes to
both market and rural development as well as food security.
At present, the MAF in Timor-Leste takes responsibility for
seed production and dissemination. Breeder and foundation
seed a re produced under researcher control both on
Government research stations and, for foundation seed, on
farmers’ fields. Small amounts of seed are then given to
farmers to multiply for their own use. Another methodol-
ogy may be adopted in later years as the demand for seed of
recently released cultivars increases.
Adoption of newly-released cultivars in Timor-Leste
A year after the cultivars were released, an early adoption
study was undertaken to seek preliminary evaluation of the
releases. The number of farmers growing at least one of the
improved cultivars of their own accord in the following
season was very high with their adoption by 396 of the 544
interviewees (73%). There was no difference in ado ption
levels between men- and women-headed households (73
and 72% respectively). High levels of adoption were
recorded for one or more the new rice, peanut and maize
cultivars (81, 74 and 81% respectively), whereas sweet
potatoes had a lower adoption rate (35–69%) possibly due
to runner production problems in the dry season (Table 4).
Anecdotally, the new cultivars are viewed as adding extra
diversity to farmers’ fields, not diminishing it. The adoption
of new cultivars does not result in the immediate genetic
erosion of traditional cultivars as the new varieties are just
added to the mix of 3–5 local varieties of each species
grown every year. Further research will clarify the
biodiversity implications of the new cultivars over time.
In the meantime, MAF/SoL has mounted a collection of
locally grown varieties for posterity and for use in the
national evaluation program.
Impact of adoption of new cultivars: household level
Releasing improved cultivars that are higher yielding has
the potential of not only improving food security by
increasing grain production for on-farm consumption, but
also providing the opportunity to sell the surplus for cash.
Some farmers who were able to take the opportunity of
sowing the new cultivars to increase their rice, sweet
potato, maize and peanut yields sold part of their crop at the
market. With their income they were able to purchase other
types of food, and pay for educational expenses and
clothing. Examples of the uses of cash income from rice
grain sales are presented in Table 5. Although the amounts
involved are small, there is an increasing number of farmers
realising this advantage and the overall impact is expand-
ing. SoL personnel are currently in the process of
measuring the area occupied by new cultivars in order to
estimate the economic impacts they have made to date.
Mrs Freitas is one adopter who had taken the opportu-
nity of growing Hohrae sweet potato cultivars and selling
part of her produce to buy household goods. She is quoted
as saying:
My name is Juvita Da Costa Freitas from Ostico
village, Ostico hamlet, Vemasse Sub-district. Sweet
potato that I planted in 2008 was sold and provided
me with US$ 58.00.
1
I sold it in the market at US
$7.50/sack. After selling, myself and my husband
decided to buy a set of plastic chairs that can be
considered as souvenir for my hard work in planting
sweet potatoes. Sometimes, I also sell sweet potato
from home and it is purchased by school teachers and
students. I also share the cuttings with the neighbours
who wish to plant, and some of the yield is also
Reason for liking this cultivar Hohrae 1 Hohrae 2 Hohrae 3 Local
Big Tubers 26.5 31.6 29.2 0
Good to eat 21.1 18.4 17.7 22.4
Fast Growing 12.2 10.9 12.2 0
Total % respondents giving positive comment 66 65.3 70.7 29.3
Table 2 Farmers’ opinions
(% of 115 respondents) of new
sweet potato cultivars
1
Currency in Timor-Leste = US$
Table 3 Farmers’ preferences for Nakroma rice
Farmer’s name Village Identified preferences
Fernando Kolimau Sarin Large, fragrant grain, even
height crop
Antonio Hornai Betano High yields, fragrant, oily,
even height crop
Ernesto da Costa
Freitas
Buruma Large, fragrant grain, similar
height plants
Regina Amaral Uma nai iku Produce many tillers, high
yields
Domingos Sarin Similar height, fragrant
Augusto Da Silva Sarin High yields
Maria da Costa Sarin White colour seed, high
yields
Food Security in Timor-Leste 407
shared with my brothers. Life experience that we had
with sweet potato is a story that can be remembered
by our children when I pass away.
Potential impact of new cultivars at the national level
The potential impact of the new cultivars at the national level
was estimated ex ante. Data on national production and
harvested area are available for maize, peanut, rice and sweet
potato from FAO (FAO 2009)(Table6). The yield data of the
new cultivars are from cultivation by farmers under their own
conditions in six Districts and hence realistic for use in a
national estimate. Conservatism was brought into the national
estimate by using the average yield advantage of all new
cultivars of a crop rather than that of the best cultivar. For
potential national impact estimation, two scenarios were used.
In the Linear Scenario an average adoption rate across the new
cultivars of a crop was used and extended nationally with
farmers adopting new cultivars on 75% of their land. In the
Conservative Scenario an arbitrary lower adoption rate across
farmers was assumed at 50% for maize, peanut and rice, again
estimating that adopting farmers only grow the new cultivar
on 75% of their land. For both Scenarios the mean sweet
potato adoption rate of 53.7% was assumed because this lower
rate in comparison to the cereals was partly due to the low
availability during the dry season of sweet potato runners and
this will be addressed in a MAF runner multiplication
campaign. The estimates of increased production from the
new cultivars are high in all the crops. In maize the adoption
of new cultivars nationally is estimated to produce an extra
23,511 t annually representing a boost of 28% over current
total national production (Table 6). In the conservative
estimate the extra national production was estimated at
15,168 t or an extra 18% more national production. For rice
the figures are lower but still substantial: the adoption of the
new rice cultivar nationally is estimated to produce an extra
8,317 t annually representing an additional 14% over current
national production. In the conservative estimate the extra
percentage production was estimated at 9% rice grain. In
sweet potato the new clones have dramatically improved
yields compared to the local material but the national
cropped area is small; the new cultivars will result in an
extra national production of 30% compared to the current
total national production. In peanut the new cultivar is
anticipated to increase national production by 16% in the
linear model and 12% in the conservative model of adoption.
The total increase in food production in these crops would
contribute considerably to the current 60,000 t of rice import
equivalent currently required for food sufficiency in Timor-
Leste (Heringa 2009).
Equity
It is important that national agricultural research programs
serve all farmers equitably. The MAF/SoL research pro-
gram has taken specific measures to ensure that this is the
case in Timor-Leste. There has been no research, for
example, on hybrids which would require the annual
purchase of seed, thereby depleting short cash reserves in
the subsistence farmer community. All released cultivars
are equally productive when sown on similar soils by
Table 4 Adoption of all tested cultivars across all Districts in 2006/
2007
Crop Cultivar Adoption level Significant difference
(P=0.05) between
cultivars
No. (%)
Maize Sele 140/178 (79) No
Suwan 5 135/178 (76)
Peanuts Utamua 108/157 (69) N/A
Rice Nakroma 47/57 (81) N/A
Sweet Potato Hohrae 1 85/150 (57) No
Hohrae 2 49/142 (35)
Hohrae 3 22/32 (69)
Table 5 Use of cash earned from selling Nakroma rice
Farmer’s name Village Cash received (US$) Purchases for the household
Fernando Kolimau Sarin 35.0 One pig and one chicken
Antonio Hornai Betano 25.0 Paid children school fees and paid labour for planting,
harvesting and threshing
Ernesto da Costa Freitas Buruma – Shared the yields with group member
Regina Amaral Uma nai iku 305.2 Coconut grater machine
Antonio Hornai Betano 21.0 Children’s school fees
Domingos Sarin 17.5 Cheaper rice
Augusto Da Silva Sarin 23.8 Children’s clothes
Maria da Costa Sarin 18.0 Other types of food
408 L.F. Borges et al.
wealthy or poor farmers. None of the released cultivars
place a burden on farmers to purchase extra inputs or
require extra labour. All data collected on adoption is
gender-disaggregate d to determine whether male and
female headed households react differently to each cultivar.
Although there are some differences between adoption rates
by men and women headed households, none has so far
been significantly different. In fact many of the farmers
who have successfully sold product off-farm are women.
Agronomy
Improvements to crop agronomy associated with the release
of new cultivars may improve yields even further. Research is
currently being conducted on plant spacing, weed control
through the use of cover crops and soil improvement with
legumes. There is also scope for investigating productivity
increases with the use of fertilizers and pesticides. Possibilities
for increased mechanization of crop production such as use of
tractors, water pumps, threshers and milling equipment are
also being considered.
Storage
Storage pests and microorganisms cause considerable losses in
stored grain, tubers and roots in Timor -Leste. Such losses are
estimated to be as high as 30% across the country. They are
mainly due to damage from weevils, rats, mice and through
fungal degradation. Fungal degradation is a problem in stored
sweet potato and cassava while weevils are considered to cause
large losses in maize. In studies completed by SoL (SoL 2007,
2008), weevil damage in maize was found to be as high as
63% in some cultivars when stored in the sheath for 9 months.
These studies showed that there was significant variation
between cultivars. T imor-Leste farmers are aware of this and
use weevil tolerance as a key selection criterion when
choosing new cultivars. Grain damage due to weevils can
be almost eliminated by enclosing grain in airtight storage
receptacles such as silos, plastic bags or oil drums (Guteres
and Williams 2006). Grain plus the insects in the grain stored
in air tight containers respires sufficiently to consume most of
the contained oxygen thereby killing the insects. A program
of providing 200 litre drums to Timor ese farmers for their
grain storage would, along with the higher yields of the new
cultivars, largely eliminate food insecurity in T imor-Leste.
Diversified systems for sustainability
Rural households need to diversify their sources of food
and income to overcome their vulnerability to the vagaries
of weather and other unexpected disasters. Crop diversifi-
cation is encouraged both in the crop species grown and by
planting a number of cultivars of each crop. A wider range
of legumes grown ind ividu ally and inter crop ped with
traditional sources of carbohydrate will also improve the
protein status of rural diets. Small anim al production may
also support household protein diets and income. Other
alternative sources of incomes should be encouraged such
as the cultivation of vegetables and tree crops (coffee and
fruit) or a household member finding off-farm work.
Capacity building
Human capacity improvement has long lasting effects on
facilitating rural development. Training of research, extension
and farming communities contributes to the formulation,
transfer and adoption of food security improving technologies.
The training may take the form of participatory research, field
days, short courses, long-term training or on-the-job training.
Farmers are more likely to adopt a technology if they
Table 6 Average area harvested and production for maize, peanut, rice and sweet potato from 2005–2008 (FAOSTAT) with the respective yield
advantage and adoption averaged over cultivars. Also anticipated extra production from the new cultivars in t/annum and % extra production
compared to the current national total production with two scenarios: Linear and Conservative (assuming only 50% adoption for maize, peanut
and rice)
Crop Mean (2005–2008) % yield
advantage
%
adoption
Linear scenario Conservative scenario
Area
harvested
(ha)
Production (t) Yield
(kg/ha)
Extra
production
(t)
% extra production
to current national
total
Extra
production (t)
% extra production
to current
national total
Maize 70,711 83,400 1179 48.5 77.5 23,511 28 15,168 18
Peanut 3,280 3,317 1,011 31 69 532 16 386 12
Rice 39,564 59,527 1,505 23 81 8,317 14 5,134 9
Sweet
potato
6,142 21,739 3539 75.3 53.7 6,591 30
Total 38,951
Table 6 Average area harvested and production for maize, peanut,
rice and sweet potato from 2005–2008 (FAOSTAT) with the respective
yield advantage and adoption averaged over cultivars. Also anticipated
extra production from the new cultivars in t/annum and % extra
production compared to the current national total production with two
scenarios: Linear and Conservative (assuming only 50% adoption for
maize, peanut and rice)
Food Security in Timor-Leste 409
understand the reasons behind its effectiveness and have the
opportunity of observing it in action. By testing the technology
themselves, they can best evaluate the benefits and costs of the
new technologies. Research and extension personnel should
be fully conversant with the science to possess the background
knowledge for the technology transfer process.
Discussion
Food security exists when all people, at all times, have
physical and economic access to sufficient safe and
nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food
preferences for a healthy and active life (FAO 1996). In
Timor-Leste widespread dry season food shortages are
indicative of transitory food insecurity (Pinstrup-Andersen
2009). Successful rural development is dependent on initially
achieving food security for the majority of Timor-Leste
farmers. Initiatives to reach this goal are already in process
with the development of appropriate technology options to
increase agricultural production. Higher yielding crop
cultivars of sweet potato, maize, groundnut and rice have
been released, which are anticipated to improve productivity
nationally. Early indications are of rapid adoption. Even at
conservative estimates, the SoL program will contribute
significantly towards resolving food deficits in Timor.
The use of the new cultivars increases grain production
for on-farm consumption, and importantly also provides the
opportunity of selling surplus for cash—some growers have
sold at market for the first time. Notwithstanding, a major
associated campaign to diss eminate these cultivars more
widely needs to be mounted.
Looking ahead the spectrum of improved cultivars needs to
be increased with a larger range of crops and cultivars to
improve diversity both nutritionally and across ecosystems.
The development of further appropriate technology options
will also expand this diversity. Maintaining a range of options
of equitable and sustainable technologies that are easily
extended to the farming community is of paramount impor-
tance. These technologies should include crop production,
food storage and food processing. A balanced human capacity
development program will facilitate this process.
Establishing an enduring agricultural research/development
program in any country is a major long-term process, especially
so in nations emerging from conflict. The early successes (and
eventual sustainability) of the Seeds of Life program are
recognized as being due to the fact that the program is firmly
imbedded within the MAF—a Government body which has
human capacity for both technology development and technol-
ogy transfer. In addition to Government personnel, NGOs and
farmers participate in the technology identification process and
consider themselves to be part of the research program. All
members of the evaluation team are included in program
sponsored training courses and by the time the varieties are
ready for release, both the technical personnel and farmers are
fully aware of their attributes and potential. Good teamwork is
recognized as a strength of the program. Maintaining good
teamwork requires considerable effort from the management
and support through a strong training program. Finally, in order
to have maximum impact, the research program was simple in
design and technically robust. Clearly capacity building within
a national institution combined with a research focus on a few
key technologies, relevant to a large audience using simple
experimental designs are essential for success in developing
countries emerging from conflict.
Acknowledgements The authors wish to gratefully acknowledge the
support of the Australian Agency for International Development
(AusAID) and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural
Research (ACIAR) to the Seeds of Life program.
References
Barnett J, Dessai S, Jones RN (2007) Vulnerability to climate
variability and change in East Timor. Ambio 36:372–377
Bishaw Z, van Gastel AJG (2009) ICARDA’s approach in seed delivery
for less favorable areas through village-based seed enterprises:
conceptual and organizational issues. J New Seeds 9:68–88
CIAP (1994) Annual Research for 1993. Phnom Penh, Cambodia:
Cambodia-IRRI-Australia Project, p 172
da Costa H, Piggin C, Fox J, da Cruz CJ (2003) Agriculture: New
directions for a new nation—East Timor (Timor-Leste). In:
Proceedings of workshop 1–3 October 2002, Dili, East Timor.
ACIAR Proceedings No. 113
DNE (Direcao Nacional de Estatistica) (2004) Census 2004. DNE, Dili
Erskine W, Nesbitt H (2009) How can agriculture research make a
difference in countries eme rging from conflic t? Exp Agric
45:313–321
FAO (1996) Declaration on world food security. World Food Summit,
FAO, Rome
FAO (2009) FAOSTAT Statistical database of the United Nations
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Rome http://faostat.
fao.org/site/291/default Accessed May, 2009
Guteres A, Williams RL (2006) Maize production and storage in
Timor-Leste: A report on research conducted by the Department
of Agronomy, National University of East Timor (UNTL)
Heringa H (2009) Food Security in Timor-Leste: Competition with
(other) development goals? In: Sustainable Rural Development
for Poverty Reduction in Timor-Leste. Workshop 30–31 March,
2009, Dili
Longley K, Christoplos I, Slaymaker T (2006) Agricultural rehabil-
itation: Mapping the linkages between humanitarian relief, social
protection and development. HPG Report 22, ODI, London
Nesbitt HJ (ed) (1997) Rice production in Cambodia. Manila
(Philippines). International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos
Pinstrup-Andersen P (2009) Food security: definition and measure-
ment. Food Sec 1:5–7
SoL (Seeds of Life) (2007) Annual research report, 2006. Ministry of
Agriculture and Fisheries, Timor-Leste
SoL (Seeds of Life) (2008) Annual research report, 2007. Ministry of
Agriculture and Fisheries, Timor-Leste
SoL (Seeds of Life) (2009a) Involving women in seeds of life.
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Timor-Leste
410 L.F. Borges et al.
SoL (Seeds of Life) (2009b) Constraints for Nakroma: A study of
participating SoL farmers in Aileu, Baucau, Liquica and
Manufahi. Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Timor-Leste
SoL (Seeds of Life) (2009c) Annual research report, 2008. Ministry of
Agriculture and Fisheries, Timor-Leste
Sperling L, Cooper HD, Remington T (2008) Moving toward more
effective seed aid. J Dev Studies 44:586–612
Tilman de sa Benevides F (2003) Cropping systems in East Timor.
Pages 17–19 in Agriculture: New directions for a new nation—
East Timor (Timor-Leste). Proceedings of workshop 1–3 October
2002, Dili, East Timor. ACIAR Proceedings No. 113
World Bank (2008) Timor-Leste: Poverty in a young nation. Report by
the National Directorate of Statistics and Ministry of Finance
WFP (World Food Program) (2006) Comprehensive food security and
vulnerability analysis of Timor-Leste. p 40
Young D, Raab R, Martin R, Sin S, Leng B, Abdon MS, Seng M
(2001) Economic impact assessment of the Cambodia-IRRI-
Australia project. Cambodian Agricultural Research and Devel-
opment Institute, Phnom Penh
Lourenço Borges Fontes is the
Director General of the East
Timor Ministry of Agriculture
and Fisheries (MAF). Prior to this
appointment in January 2009 he
held the positions of Permanent
Secretary (2008–2009) and Direc-
tor of Research and Extension
(2002–2008) within the Ministry.
Lourenço has been involved in
the agriculture sector in East
Timor since 1986, and worked
for the United Nations Mission
for East Timor from 1999–2000.
He holds an animal production
degree from Sekolah Tinggi Pertanian—Tribhuwana Malang, East Java,
Indonesia (1994), and a Master of Tropical Animal Science degree from
James Cook University, Australia (2002). Lourenço has represented MAF
at a number of international biological control conferences in Australia.
Adalfredo do Rosario Ferreira
is the National Director of Re-
search and Special Services for the
East T imor Ministry of Agriculture
and Fisheries (MAF). He has
worked for MAF since 2001,
previously as Manager of Agricul-
tural Land Use and Geographic
Information Science (ALGIS) for
8 years before being appointed to
his current position in February
2009. Adalfredo graduated from
W inaya Mukti University in West
Java, Indonesia in 1998 with a
Bachelor of Forests Science de-
gree, specialising in technology of forest products, and from the University
of New England in Australia in 2008 with a Graduate Diploma of
Geographic Information Science. He has undertaken GIS and senior
management training courses in Thailand, Japan, Australia and East Timor.
Deolindo da Silva is an Advisor
to the Minister within the East
T imor Ministry of Agriculture and
Fisheries (MAF). He took up this
position in April 2009, having
previously worked as the Ministry’s
National Director for Crop Produc-
tion and Livestock from 2003 until
2009. He has been involved with
Seeds of Life since the start of the
first phase of the program in 2000.
Deolindo graduated with a Bache-
lor of Agronomy degree from
Gadja Mada University in Yogya-
karta, Indonesia in 1993.
Robert Williams is the Austra-
lian T eam Leader for the Seeds of
Life program within the East
Timor Ministry of Agriculture
and Fisheries. Before joining the
Seeds of Life team in 2004 he
worked as an Advisor to the
National University of Timor Leste
(UNTL) on an Australian Centre
for International Agricultural Re-
search (ACIAR) funded project,
and as an independent agricultural
consultant to W orl d Vision in East
T imor. Born in Queensland, Aus-
tralia, Rob holds Bachelor of Ag-
ricultural Science (Honours) (1984) and Master of Agricultural Science
(1990) degrees from The University of Queensland. Prior to moving to East
T imor in 2002 he worked as a Research Agronomist for NSW Agriculture
for 12 years, specialising in rice physiology .
Rebec ca Ander sen is a Re-
search & Extension Advisor
for the Seeds of L ife program
in East Timor. She holds a
Bachelor of Appli ed Science
(Horticulture) degree and a
Master of Environment degree,
both from The University of
Melbourne in Melbourne, Aus-
tralia. Beck has lived in East
Timor since March 2006, and
worked for a number of
organisations in cluding Don
Bosco Agricultural College
and the National University
of Timor Leste (UNTL) before joining the Seeds of Life team
in October 2007.
Food Security in Timor-Leste 411
Alex Dalley is the Agribusiness
Advisor at a USAID-funded
Private Sector Development
project implemented in East
Timor by Development Alterna-
tives International. From 2005-
2007 he worked at the East
Timor Ministry of Agriculture
and Fisheries on the AusAID/
ACIAR funded Seeds of Life
program. Prior to that Alex was
an Australian Youth Ambassa-
dor for Development in East
Timor and had extensive experi-
ence in the on-farm environmen-
tal management sector in Australia. Born in Sydney, Alex completed a
BSc(Ecology) and BA(Journalism) dual degree at the University of
Queensland in 2002.
Brian Monaghan is a Research
& Extension Advisor for the
Seeds of Life program in East
Timor. He holds Bachelor of
Science (Ecology) (1981), Bach-
elor of Agricultural Science
(1986) and Master of Science
(Agriculture) (1994) degrees, all
from The Un iversity of Mel-
bourne. Born in Australia, Brian
worked on agricultural research
projects in Papua New Guinea,
Botswana and Zimbabwe before
moving to East Timor in 2001.
He has been involved with the
Seeds of Life since the first phase of the program in 2001, and is
currently based in the town of Same, in the district of Manufahi, in the
south of East Timor.
Harry Nesbitt is the Australian
Program Coordinator of the
Seeds of Life program in East
Timor. He is an adjunct
professor with The University
of Western Australia (UWA).
Harry graduated from UWA
with a BSc (Agric)(Hons) in
1975, completed a PhD a t the
Murdoch University in 1979
and has since worked on agri-
cultural research projects in
developing countries, mainly
in the Philippines, Thailand,
Cambodia and East Timor.
He received a number of awards for his contribution to increased
rice production in Cambodia. Harry regularly travels to East
Timor from UWA.
William Erskine is Director of
both the Centre for Legumes in
Mediterranean Agriculture
(CLIMA) and the International
Centre for Plant Breeding Educa-
tion and Research (ICPBER) at
The University of Western Aus-
tralia. He was at the International
Center for Agricultural Research in
the Dry Areas (ICARDA) in Syria
as Assistant Director General (Re-
search) from 2000-2007, Leader of
the Germplasm Program, and Len-
til Breeder from 1980 for 18 years.
From 2002-2007 ICARDA man-
aged major research programs in Afghanistan and Iraq. Scottish born,
Wi lliam completed a BA (University of Cambridge) in 1973, a MAg in
1976 in Papua New Guinea, and a PhD (also from Cambridge) in 1979.
412 L.F. Borges et al.
