Australian Centre For International Agricultural Research - International Agricultural Research Centres

International Agricultural Research Centres

ACIAR is responsible for Australia’s relationship with CGIAR.

These funds are used to facilitate CGIAR engagement in the Asia-Pacific and to commission projects that are consistent with ACIAR’s country program strategies.

Australia also shares similar climatic and agricultural systems with many of its partners, as well as sharing similar challenges such as biosecurity, quarantine, climatic variation and water management.

Despite its relatively small size, ACIAR’s program of cooperative research has made a substantial contribution in its 25 years of operations. ACIAR’s approach of linking developing country organisations with Australian research bodies to work in collaboration on agricultural problems of mutually recognised importance has delivered a cost-effective form of aid management that has contributed to substantial improvements in poverty reduction, food security and sustainability in the developing countries of the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. ACIAR is an example of how cooperative research can lead to technological advance in agriculture in both recipient and donor countries.

ACIAR is based in Canberra, with offices in China, India (covering South Asia), Indonesia, Papua New Guinea (covering PNG and the Solomon Islands), the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand (covering the other Mekong countries). ACIAR is responsible for administering, on behalf of the Australian Government, Australia’s contribution to the International Agricultural Research Centres (IARCs). The IARCs are internationally funded, independent, non-profit institutions that carry out research and related activities to help achieve sustainable food security and reduce poverty in developing countries.

The goal of ACIAR’s multilateral program is to ensure the effectiveness of, and benefits to, developing countries and Australia from agricultural research conducted by the IARCs with funds provided by Australia.

The system of International Agricultural Research Centres (IARCs) comprises the institutions financed under the umbrella of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), and non-associated Centres that also have a global mandate.

ACIAR policy is to allocate about 20% of its total appropriation to the IARCs. Total budgeted expenditure to these centres through the multilateral program in 2007-08 is $10.27 million.

This policy decision recognises that the mandate of the IARCs is highly relevant to the objectives of Australia’s aid program. The crop germplasm collections and crop mandates (e.g. tropical rice, maize, cassava and sweet potato) and advanced research facilities of the IARCs complement rather than duplicate, the genetic resources and agricultural R&D skills base and facilities in Australia and ACIAR’s partner countries.