Maize and rice are the country's main staple
foods.....MORE
FORESTS
EAST TIMOR has a total forest area of 1.4 m ha.....MORE
Introduction to the
Agricultural Rehabilitation Projects of MAFF
Background to Donor support to the Agricultural Sector
The agricultural and rural sectors were severely disrupted due to
the civil disturbances in 1999 when the previous Indonesian system
of highly subsidised support was withdrawn as well as a great deal
of physical damage being inflicted on the people, infrastructure
and rural market systems.
The donor community, through the World Bank, had established the
Trust Fund for East Timor to provide financial means to rehabilitate
many structures and mechanisms that were damaged or destroyed during
last months of occupation. In the agricultural sector, funds have
been channelled through the MAFF managed Agricultural Rehabilitation
Projects: ARP I, ARP II and ARP III.
ARP I started in August 2000 and was completed in September 2002.
ARP II started in October 2001 and will finish in December 2004,
and ARP III began in April 2004 and will continue until 2007.
ARP I & 2
ARP I was intended to quickly respond and focus on restoring the
basic assets. This included (i) livestock, farm tools and emergency
vaccination; (ii) rehabilitation of small irrigation schemes and
access roads; (iii) establishment of Pilot Agriculture Service Centres
(PASCs); and (iv) establishment of a Project Management Unit and
capacity building for agriculture staff. This work was carried out
by the then Division of Agriculture Affairs under the United Nations
Transitional Administration in East Timor - now MAFF.
ARP II has continued the restoration of agriculture assets, irrigation
infrastructure and restoration of vaccination services with the
general objective of improving the food security of rural families
and increasing agricultural production in selected areas of Timor-Leste
Change of focus for ARP III
ARP III aims to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries and its development partners to assist rural
communities in increasing their production and income in a sustainable
way. It aims to consolidate past efforts with emphasis on the sustainability
of activities, the impact of achievements and the quality of outputs.
In addition, its task is to ensure the integration of project activities
within MAFF.
Overall, the ARP III aims to strengthen role of MAFF as being a
development agency rather than implementer of relief style projects
- so looking at the longer-term benefits and impact. As a result,
there is now a greater focus on planning and delivering activities
that continue beyond ARP III, so helping to strengthen MAFF and
its delivery of services to the rural community.
John Steel
