ACIAR STRATEGIC PLAN

2014–18

Copyright information © Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) 2014

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ACIAR Strategic Plan 2014–18 February 2014 ISBN 978 1 925133 03 5 (print) ISBN 978 1 925133 04 2 (PDF)

Distribution This report is available through the ACIAR website <aciar.gov.au> or by contacting ACIAR by email <aciar@aciar.gov.au>, phone [+61 2] 6217 0500 or fax [+61 2] 6217 0501 to request a hard copy.

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2014

ACIAR STRATEGIC PLAN

2014–18

THE INSEPARABLE CHALLENGES OF POVERTY, MALNUTRITION AND HUNGER REMAIN AMONG THE WORLD’S GREATEST CHALLENGES.

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FOREWORD

The inseparable challenges of poverty, malnutrition and hunger remain among the world’s greatest challenges. Australia, as a wealthy nation with a strong heritage of agricultural innovation, has an active role to play in overcoming these challenges by building mutually beneficial agricultural partnerships with developing countries.

Established by the Fraser Government, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) encourages Australian agricultural researchers to use their expertise for the benefit of developing countries. For over 30 years, ACIAR has worked to improve the productivity and profitability of agricultural systems in the Asia–Pacific region and Indian Ocean rim.

ACIAR puts Australia’s agricultural innovation system to work to reduce poverty and contribute to the long-term economic prosperity of developing countries. This work contributes to stronger economies and to poverty alleviation, which is central to Australia’s aid agenda.

Stronger economies in our region assist Australian exporters and investors to access and profit from foreign markets. Support for more-productive, market-led agricultural systems that engage smallholders encourages developing countries to effectively tap into new opportunities. In these ways, ACIAR works towards a future of shared prosperity.

Through partnerships in science and technology, ACIAR fosters closer ties between Australia and the region and develops stronger people-to-people links. These are some of the most effective ways of assisting other nations, and of creating real bridges between Australia and our counterparts.

I am pleased to introduce ACIAR’s 5-year strategy, which responds to urgent global challenges, and sets out ACIAR’s distinct contribution to the global research effort. The strategy describes how ACIAR will, through international agricultural research partnerships, achieve more-productive and sustainable agricultural systems, for the benefit of developing countries and Australia.

One of the accomplishments of ACIAR’s work is improving gender equality. Women make a vital contribution to agriculture, and ACIAR’s work is making a real difference to lives of women and girls around the world. The strategy appropriately recognises the important role that women play in agriculture, and confirms ACIAR’s commitment to tackling gender inequality, in the design, delivery and impact of its projects.

This strategy also introduces rigorous benchmarks and strengthens performance measures. Measuring the performance of ACIAR will ensure that agriculture-sector research continues to impact on policy and practice in partner countries to contribute to economic growth and reduce poverty.

Julie Bishop Minister for Foreign Affairs

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FOREWORD 3

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 7

Key points 7

INTRODUCTION 8

CONTEXT 9

Why agriculture and rural development matter 9

Why research matters 10

ACIAR’s unique position 10

STRATEGY 11

Where we will work 11

What we will deliver 13

What we will focus on 14

How we will deliver 14

MEASURING PROGRESS 17

Pathway to impacts 17

Communicating progress 18

APPENDIX: SPECIFIC ACTIONS 19

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This Strategic Plan outlines what ACIAR intends to achieve in agricultural research for development, and how we are aiming to deliver. During the next 5 years, we will become even more embedded in the broader development efforts and more market-focused, with a visible and significant voice in the sector. ACIAR will continue to work closely with Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to maintain our position within whole-of-government processes, and support Government’s objective to build an effective aid program that contributes to international economic growth and poverty reduction. We will continue to demonstrate superior value for money, and dynamic, flexible and responsive delivery.

Key points

Where we will work

We will concentrate our efforts in developing countries of Asia and the Pacific, while also engaging in high-payoff partnerships in other regions in support of Australia’s foreign policy objectives. We will work through bilateral (at least 70%) and multilateral (up to 30%) modalities.

What we will deliver

ACIAR will generate new technologies, new knowledge, greater capability and better decision-making from our research partnerships. By focusing on impact pathways, ACIAR will deliver more-productive and sustainable agriculture for the benefit of farmers and consumers in developing countries and Australia.

What we will focus on

To achieve our results, we will focus research on four areas: crops; livestock and fisheries; natural resources and forestry; and socioeconomics and policy. We will develop a stronger focus on developing market opportunities for smallholder farmers and will implement cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary research approaches across these four focal areas. Our research will tackle gender inequality, in the design, delivery and impacts of our projects. We will maintain our core mandate of producing excellent research, and work through others to achieve up-scaling and broader development.

How we will deliver

We will deepen our existing partnerships and explore new and more diverse partnerships, with greater emphasis on the private sector and non-government organisations, and new, innovative partnerships with emerging economies. In Australia, we will give particular emphasis to consulting with research providers to determine how best to combine our expertise and financial resources. We will move towards more-strategic institutional partnerships, and a more programmatic approach in delivery. We will take steps to improve the transparency of our project and partner-selection processes, and invest in improved systems and processes.

In the next 5 years

We will continue to work as part of Australia’s aid program, which plans, works and reports in a whole-of-government way. This will require us to become increasingly familiar with, and a part of, the global development debate. We will adapt and respond to emerging opportunities, including those at the interface between agriculture and human health, and agriculture and mining. We will continue to strive to better understand and enhance adoption processes.

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INTRODUCTION

Under this 5-year Strategic Plan, ACIAR will invest around A$0.5 billion on agricultural research for development. This strategy explains how that money will be spent to achieve maximum impact.

This strategy was developed under the guidance of the Commission for International Agricultural Research and following an extensive period of consultation. It outlines actions to give effect to the 27 recommendations of the 2013 Independent Review of ACIAR1, and reflects Australian Government priorities. It also takes into consideration the state of thinking towards Sustainable Development Goals.

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1 http://aciar.gov.au/publication/cp025; see also Appendix for specific actions arising from recommendations (Rec.1–27).

We will augment this Strategic Plan by formulating annual strategy settings for consideration by the Commission for International Agricultural Research, as a precursor to development of our Annual Operational Plan (Rec.6). Our Annual Operational Plan, which we will publish in June each year, will present indicators for project outputs, and program outcomes. We will monitor and report on these indicators in our Annual Report to Parliament.

CONTEXT

Why agriculture and rural development matter

About 25,000 people die every day of hunger-related causes arising from severe poverty. Paradoxically, the majority of the world’s hungry are themselves farmers. To overcome poverty, poor farmers need solutions that help produce more and healthier food, create more jobs, and achieve self-reliance and a larger marketable surplus so as to increase real incomes.

While there has been substantial progress in reducing poverty and improving livelihoods of poor people around the world since the 1980s, around 1 billion people—or one person in seven—remain poor and malnourished. People are hungry because they are poor or cannot produce enough food. Agricultural or economic growth that benefits the poor is a key to reducing food insecurity. In turn, food security is crucial to helping the poorest countries pull themselves out of poverty. In poor countries agricultural growth is, on average, two to four times as effective in raising incomes of the poor as is growth generated in non-agricultural sectors.

The inseparable challenges of poverty, malnutrition and hunger remain among the international community’s greatest. Population growth and rising levels of consumption will cause global demand for food to double in coming decades, opening up new trade possibilities. At the same time, the future availability of food is at risk where farming is increasingly challenged by changing climatic conditions; by the overuse and degradation of natural resources; by new uses for agricultural production; by emerging pests and diseases; by political and economic instability; and by decreasing investment in agricultural research.

In most developing countries, extreme poverty is largely a rural phenomenon. Perversely, poverty and household food insecurity are most pervasive among populations dependent on agriculture, livestock, fisheries and forests for their livelihoods.

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Why research matters

Agricultural productivity must increase if the world is to continue to feed, clothe and support a growing population from fixed or shrinking land and water resources. Research is an essential driver of productivity growth in agriculture, and well-managed agricultural research can deliver innovative, lasting solutions that bring sustainable change to those who need it most. Research also provides new knowledge, technologies, capacities and policies to deal with rapidly changing contexts, such as increased globalisation of the agriculture and food-sector markets, new and emerging food safety and quality issues, changing diets, and the rapid rise of supermarkets and consolidation within food supply chains.

Investment in agricultural research for development is a highly effective option for reducing poverty for a relatively large beneficiary population: net sellers of food receive greater income through increased production, while net buyers have greater access to, and possibly pay lower prices for, food. This aligns with and supports Australia’s foreign policy objectives—regional prosperity and security, global peace and an open international economic system.

ACIAR’s unique position

Australia has a special role to play. Australia is the world’s driest inhabited continent, yet our science-based productive agriculture provides food not only for our own population but also for many others in the world. Australia’s capacity to contribute to food security is considerable and, in many aspects, world-leading. We have relevant capabilities in many fields including plant biosciences, fisheries, agricultural policy, biosecurity and climate adaptation, and particular strengths in areas associated with dryland management in risky climatic and market situations.

A key part of Australia’s overseas aid program since 1982, ACIAR works with developing countries to use science and technology to find solutions to their local problems. ACIAR encourages Australian scientists to work in close collaboration with researchers from developing countries to generate innovations that lead to more and healthier food, create jobs and boost incomes. We also encourage the sharing of this knowledge with policymakers, other researchers, and farming communities. Our partnerships build the capabilities of individuals, and the capacities of their institutions, to solve their own problems. While focused on developing-country challenges, our partnerships also deliver benefits to Australia.

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STRATEGY

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VISION: ACIAR LOOKS TO A WORLD WHERE POVERTY HAS BEEN REDUCED AND LIVELIHOODS OF MANY IMPROVED THROUGH MORE-PRODUCTIVE AND SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE EMERGING FROM COLLABORATIVE INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH. MISSION: TO ACHIEVE MORE-PRODUCTIVE AND SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS, FOR THE BENEFIT OF DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AND AUSTRALIA, THROUGH INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS.

Where we will work

We will concentrate our operations in the developing countries of Australia’s neighbourhood—Asia and the Pacific region—while also brokering high-payoff partnerships in other regions in support of Australia’s foreign policy objectives.

In prioritising investments across regions and countries, we will take into account Australia’s foreign policy priorities; national interest and comparative research advantage; the relevance of research to solving priority agricultural problems; and the research being undertaken by other agencies. The Commission for International Agricultural Research and our Policy Advisory Council, supported by our Regional and Country Offices, will continue to provide guidance.

Our investments will be in line with broader aid program priorities, avoiding a proliferation of small projects in non-traditional countries (Rec.10). Those research activities undertaken outside our usual country portfolios in response to high-level government initiatives will be appropriately resourced, with sufficient time allocated to design effective projects/programs (Rec 10).

Country and global programs

ACIAR has long brokered research partnerships between Australia and developing countries. These partnerships are between Australian research institutions and the appropriate national government ministry (the bilateral program) or an international agency constituted under the United Nations framework (the global program). During this planning cycle, at least 70% of our available funds will be allocated to the bilateral program and up to 30% to the global program. These proportions entail a modest rebalancing towards bilateral engagement, optimising the use of Australian research and international capacity, and targeting closely the geographical priorities of the aid program. Under this Plan, we will also explore opportunities to engage in new ways with emerging economies (a new trilateral program).

Country program

The geographic focus of our country (bilateral) program will maintain consistency with that of the broader aid program, which in turn is determined by factors such as Australia’s national interest; Australia’s capacity to deliver and make a difference; and the scale and effectiveness—the track record—of existing programs. In addition, we will continue to undertake quantitative and qualitative analysis of data from multiple sources to assess: new and emerging challenges responsive to agricultural research investment; where Australian research partnership is appropriate; and benefits that are likely to accrue for that country and for other countries with similar needs and potential.

Table 1 presents our current (2014) and target (2018) country (bilateral) investments, by region, based on analyses at commencement of the Plan. The shifting emphasis, based on country-level assessments, reflects Government’s policy rationale. Country-level data will be reviewed and revised annually and published in our Annual Operational Plan.

Table 1: ACIAR’s relative investments in bilateral research across the five target regions of the aid program

Region % (2014)

Target % (2018)

Pacific (including Papua New Guinea)

14 20

East Asia 41 45

South and West Asia 17 15

Sub-Saharan Africa 21 15

Middle East and North Africa

7 5

Totals 100 100

East Asia and the Pacific (including Papua New Guinea) will continue to be ACIAR’s highest priority regions, and will account for around 75% of our bilateral program. Indonesia and Papua New Guinea have long been among our largest country programs and we anticipate they will remain so for this planning period. In line with the broader aid program, our main country programs will include Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and East Timor, as well as the less developed countries of the Mekong, South Asia, Pacific islands and Sub-Saharan Africa. The Australian International Food Security Research Centre will be an important element of our delivery in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular emphasis on food security. Our program in Africa will target countries in the east and south of the continent.

Our bilateral program also draws on expertise of CGIAR, and non-CGIAR centres including CABI, the World Vegetable Centre, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community and the World Organisation for Animal Health.

We will continue to consult with partner countries in the development of our country strategies, and work with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to ensure that agricultural research is effectively integrated with Australia’s economic diplomacy efforts.

Trilateral program

We will explore innovative collaborations with countries such as China and India (Rec.10). For example, we will look to partner with Indian researchers and research institutions to work in other regions, such as eastern Africa. Our technical cooperation programs in India and China will increasingly have a regional orientation with co-investment from the respective country governments.

Global program

Key global partners for ACIAR have been the International Agricultural Research Centres of CGIAR. We will continue to administer and manage Australia’s contribution to this system to deploy their expertise and comparative advantage in the CGIAR Research Programs, which form the core of the newly reformed consortium. ACIAR has helped shaped this reform process and will continue to ensure the quality of Australian contributions by:

• leading a process for agreeing on and articulating a comprehensive Australian approach to engagement with the CGIAR system (Rec.5)

• participating in the Pacific Donor Constituency of the CGIAR Fund Council

• participating in the governance of the CGIAR Research Programs

• targeting additional Australian partnerships to align with the CGIAR Research Programs, to fill gaps and pursue new opportunities.

Where appropriate, we will contribute to Australia’s engagement with multilateral fora such as the G20, and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

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What we will deliver

ACIAR will generate outputs across four areas from our research partnerships:

• new technologies

• new knowledge

• greater capability

• better decision-making.

We will focus on impact pathways, particularly the role of women and, through partnerships with next and end users, will deliver:

• increased availability of and access to meat, milk, grains, fruits and vegetables

• greater product utilisation and reduced postharvest losses

• improved nutritional quality and diversity of diets

• new and diversified enterprise options

• enhanced market chains for smallholder agriculture

• increased productivity, quality and market access for agriculture, aquaculture and forestry products

• greater resilience and diversity of production systems

• strengthened plant and animal biosecurity.

New technologies

We will help create new agricultural technologies and support their commercialisation and use in developing countries. The technologies will be demand-led, targeting food sufficiency, intensification, diversification and resilience of production systems; health and nutrition; and empowerment of women. They will reduce impediments to productivity and trade.

We will continue to ensure that the improvement of adoption rates is an ethos for our research and will facilitate this in various ways; for example, by adopting a more multidisciplinary approach to projects, involving businesses and non-government organisations in the design of projects and the implementation of project outcomes, and partnering with CGIAR Centres (Rec.12).

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New knowledge

We will help generate and deliver new scientific knowledge with and for developing countries. To do this, we will support, encourage, and build capability for, scientific excellence.

As well as contributing to the global stock of knowledge, our work will put findings from global research into local contexts, and will help to shape policy. We will place particular emphasis on communicating the knowledge generated, to maximise its availability and impact.

Greater capability

We will build capability in partner countries to do and use research. We will pay particular attention to the countries and areas where skills gaps are the most pronounced.

Capacity building of institutions and individuals is integral to all ACIAR-supported research, and significantly enhances the sustainability of research outcomes. Our programs bring Australian researchers together with developing-country researchers, primarily by short or extended visits, and all research is undertaken collaboratively in the laboratory or in the field. This informal training, through ‘learning-by-doing’, will be augmented by two formal training programs:

• the Australia Awards John Allwright Fellowship scheme, which supports masters and PhD programs for overseas students at Australian universities

• the Australia Awards John Dillon Fellowship program, which supports between 10 and 15 mid-career scientists and science managers to undertake training and gain experience in science management through placement at Australian institutions.

We will examine the scope for increasing the number of ACIAR scholarships; and will liaise with the Australia Awards Scholarship program about the potential for increasing the number of its scholarships awarded for promising agricultural researchers (Rec.9). We will also explore links and synergies with the New Colombo Plan, and demand-led targeted training in areas such as biosecurity, plant breeding, and postharvest processing.

Better decision-making

We will support better decision-making in two ways: through policy analysis that leads to improved policies and better regulation; and by helping to strengthen the evidence basis on which policy is formulated. We will seek to make existing information more accessible.

Our programs will seek to achieve earlier engagement with decision-makers, opinion-formers and practitioners, to maximise the likelihood of policy-relevant results and subsequent uptake.

What we will focus on

To achieve our results, we will focus research on four thematic areas:

• crops

• livestock and fisheries

• natural resources and forestry

• socioeconomics and policy.

In practice, we will increasingly implement cross-disciplinary, interdisciplinary, and market-orientated research approaches across these four focal areas. Our research will tackle gender inequality, in the design, delivery and impacts of our projects. We will maintain our core mandate of producing an excellent research product and will not seek to move into the broader development arena (Rec.8).

Crops

We will continue to integrate agronomic, agricultural systems and genetics research, to increase productivity and accelerate breeding by applying genomics and information technologies.

Livestock and fisheries

We will increasingly integrate programs on animal-sourced foods for the rural and urban poor, with shared approaches to biosecurity.

Natural resources and forestry

We will further develop research that ensures the sustainability of soils and water while increasing quantity and quality of crop, livestock and forest products.

Socioeconomics and policy

We will combine stand-alone studies of policy in the region with complementary research on policies, extension processes and market value chains that enhance pathways from research to impact. We will concentrate more strongly on emerging policy themes such as the role of the private sector, strengthening markets and international trade, and understanding the adoption process within agriculture.

How we will deliver

Partnerships and modalities

At our core, ACIAR creates and sustains partnerships among research providers, the private sector, public and non-government extension systems, and development organisations. We will deepen our existing partnerships and explore new, innovative and more diverse partnerships, including co-financing, and will expand our approach to working with the private sector in order to meet the goals of this strategy.

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We will be responsive to the need for research in our partner countries. In these countries, we will continue to nurture our relationships with national governments, and strengthen our partnerships with research institutes, civil society organisations and the private sector.

After a process of consultation with key stakeholders, we will develop a position paper on the future involvement of the private sector and non-government organisations in our work (Rec.13).

We will take into account shifting dynamics in the agricultural research capacities of Australia and other countries, and further consider new ways in which we can develop partnerships, regional and other approaches, including developing technical partnerships with emerging economies (Rec.8).

ACIAR intends to be open to new partnerships and new ways of working with our partners (Rec.11). We will develop joint research programs with international organisations such as Canada’s International Development Research Centre, and will provide strong support for high-performing multilateral organisations such as CGIAR.

In Australia, we will give particular emphasis to consulting with research providers to determine how best to combine our expertise and financial resources. We will explore more strategic partnerships, and move towards a more programmatic approach (Rec.8). However, we will continue to fund smaller, targeted, highly innovative programs where appropriate, retaining our comparative advantages in flexibility and responsiveness.

Structures and systems

We have taken steps to improve the transparency of our project and partner-selection processes, as well as perceptions of our performance in this regard (Rec.17). To assist, by June 2014, we will introduce an integrated program management database (Rec.19). Our already strong focus on accountability and transparency will be further strengthened.

Together with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Department of Agriculture, and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), we will deliver a whole-of-government approach to international agricultural research for development (Rec.2). We will continue to work with DFAT to maintain our position within the whole-of-government aid program, and will contribute perspectives to whole-of-government procedures for development assistance, as they are further bedded down (Rec.3). Where we are able, we will also support Australia’s multilateral engagements, such as the G20.

We will examine the role of our Country and Regional Managers with a view to making enhanced use of their in-country knowledge and experience and to increase the influence on whole-of government country strategies (Rec.15).

Within available resources, we will augment staffing to enable more extensive senior-level liaison with organisations and agencies within Australia and better support for the efficient discharge of the research program (Rec.14).

We will pursue an effective pattern of engagement with stakeholders.

We will monitor our operational and organisational effectiveness through new procedures, including an upgraded comprehensive management system and strengthened monitoring and evaluation arrangements. Current procedures will be more fully documented to comply with Government requirements for efficiency and effectiveness.

We will seek regular reviews, where possible to be conducted at the same time as, and feeding into, regular reviews of the overall aid program (Rec.4).

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MEASURING PROGRESS

ACIAR is driven by a focus on impacts. We will continue to strive to understand the needs of next and end users of our research and to develop impact pathways that continually respond to the changing circumstances in which the outputs of research can best be utilised. We will place emphasis on building partnerships and processes that maximise the likelihood of impact.

Pathway to impacts

The figure below summarises the pathway to impacts from ACIAR projects.

OUTPUTS

Technologies Scientific knowledge Capacity Policy knowledge

ADOPTION

Commercialisation Communication Capacity building Regulation

OUTCOMES AND INTERMEDIATE IMPACTS

Demand – Supply – Environment – Social

FINAL IMPACTS

Economic• Increased household

income• More jobs

Environmental• Cleaner rivers• Less deforestation• Reduced soil erosion

Social• Healthier food• Stronger institutions• Resilient communities

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Impact assessment

ACIAR has a robust and independent system of impact evaluation. We will continue our own suite of evaluations and impact assessments, including continuing to estimate the economic impact of our projects and improving our methodology for assessing environmental impacts (Rec.24). We will also nominate evaluations for oversight by the portfolio’s Independent Evaluation Committee (IEC) during the evaluation process (Rec.22).

We will undertake some repeat impact assessment and adoption studies 10 years after completion, to test the appropriateness of the assumptions made, especially about the productivity improvement and the rate and extent of adoption (Rec.21).

To meet reporting requirements of the broader aid program, we will provide reports on outputs, outcomes and impacts of the research we support (Rec.20). We will produce an annual summary of key evaluation findings, with structure and form developed in consultation with the Office of Development Effectiveness and the IEC (Rec.23).

Our Annual Operational Plan, which we will publish in June each year, presents indicators for project outputs and program outcomes. We will monitor and report on these indicators in our Annual Report to Parliament, giving special attention to:

• improving the planned impact pathways of projects in design and underway

• undertaking thematic impact assessments at country level to quantify long-term impacts

• investing in new research on improved methods for capturing the diverse and sometimes diffuse benefits, and their attribution, as a routine systematic, quantifiable methodology.

We will also invest in new methodologies to better understand how agricultural research reduces poverty. While continuing to estimate the economic impacts from our projects, we will seek to improve methodologies for assessing environmental and livelihood impacts.

Communicating progress

We will continue to report our findings routinely. While maintaining our international focus, in Australia we will seek to more effectively highlight and communicate our research results, and to tell the ACIAR story in a compelling way. We will strengthen our capacities in this regard.

We will be more visible in Australia. To help achieve this, we will develop clear, high-level narratives about our work and use them to raise community awareness (Rec.25). We will also develop further our work on whole-of-government approaches to public affairs (Rec.26). We will develop a strategic approach to, and systematic process of, engagement with stakeholders in Australia, including through engaging the Crawford Fund (Rec.27).

We will maintain an active dialogue with Australia’s broader aid program to build on positive discussions to date, and ensure that we receive adequate resourcing to discharge requirements for reporting on projects funded via the broader aid program (Rec.16).

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APPENDIX: SPECIFIC ACTIONS

During the lifespan of this strategy, ACIAR will undertake the following specific actions to give effect to the 27 recommendations of the 2013 Independent Review of ACIAR:

1. ACIAR and DFAT will continue to work together to position ACIAR fully within the new whole-of-government Official Development Assistance (ODA) process.

2. The CEO of ACIAR, together with relevant Senior Executives from DFAT, the Department of Agriculture and CSIRO, will encourage a whole-of-government approach to international agricultural research for development, including regular CEO meetings, a working group, and organic consultation processes.

3. ACIAR will contribute perspectives to whole-of-government procedures for development assistance, as they are further bedded down.

4. ACIAR will seek regular reviews, where possible to be conducted at the same time as, and feeding into, the regular 5-year reviews of the overall aid program.

5. ACIAR will lead a process for agreeing on and articulating a comprehensive Australian approach to engagement with the CGIAR system.

6. ACIAR will augment its planning process by formulating annual strategy settings for Commission for International Agricultural Research consideration, as a precursor to development of the Annual Operational Plan.

7. Submissions to the Minister from the CEO seeking approval of the Strategic Plan and the Annual Operational Plan will be accompanied by a letter from the Chair of the Commission for International Agricultural Research confirming that the Commission has considered the document in question and providing such further advice as the Commission considers appropriate.

8. ACIAR will continue to develop its approaches in areas including a move towards a more programmatic approach, regional approaches and new partnerships with emerging economies. ACIAR will maintain its core mandate of producing an excellent research product and should not move into the development area.

9. ACIAR will examine the scope for increasing the number of ACIAR scholarships; and liaise with the Australia Awards Scholarship program about the potential for increasing the number of its scholarships awarded to promising agricultural researchers.

10. ACIAR will concentrate the geographic focus of its research programs in line with broader aid program priorities, avoiding a proliferation of small projects in non-traditional countries. Innovative collaborations with countries such as China, India and Brazil will be explored. Research activities undertaken outside its usual country portfolios in response to high-level government initiatives will be appropriately resourced, with sufficient time allocated to design effective projects/programs.

11. The Australian International Food Security Research Centre within ACIAR will continue to develop innovative partnerships; and over the longer term the orientation of the Centre will be directed towards understanding the adoption process within agriculture.

12. ACIAR will make the improvement of adoption rates a focus of its research and facilitate this in various ways; for example, adopting a more multidisciplinary approach to projects, involving businesses and non-government organisations in the design of projects and the implementation of project outcomes, and partnering with CGIAR Centres.

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13. ACIAR, after a process of consultation with interested stakeholders, will develop a position paper on the future involvement of the private sector and non-government organisations in its work.

14. The CEO, within available resources, will augment staffing resources, including by the addition of an SES officer, to enable more extensive senior-level liaison with organisations and agencies within Australia and better support for the efficient discharge of the research program.

15. ACIAR will examine the role of country managers, with a view to making enhanced use of their in-country knowledge and experience and to increase the influence on whole-of government ODA country strategies.

16. ACIAR will maintain an active dialogue with Australia’s broader aid program to build on positive discussions to date, and to ensure that it receives adequate resourcing to discharge requirements for reporting on projects funded via the broader aid program.

17. ACIAR will take steps to improve the transparency of its project and partner-selection processes, as well as perceptions of its performance in this regard.

18. ACIAR will review its risk management plan.

19. ACIAR will introduce by June 2014 an integrated program management database.

20. ACIAR will provide reports on outputs, outcomes and impacts of the research it supports to meet reporting requirements of the broader aid program.

21. ACIAR will undertake some repeat impact assessment and adoption studies 10 years after completion, to test the appropriateness of the assumptions made, especially about the productivity improvement and the rate and extent of adoption.

22. ACIAR will nominate evaluations for oversight by the aid program’s Independent Evaluation Committee (IEC) during the evaluation process.

23. ACIAR will produce an annual summary of key evaluation findings to form part of the annual reporting, with structure and form developed in consultation with the Office of Development Effectiveness and the IEC.

24. ACIAR will continue its own suite of evaluations and impact assessments, including continuing to estimate the economic impact of its projects and improving its methodology for assessing environmental impacts.

25. ACIAR will develop a clear high-level narrative about its work and use this to raise community awareness in Australia.

26. ACIAR will develop further its work on whole-of-ODA public affairs approaches.

27. ACIAR will develop a strategic approach to, and systematic process of, engagement with stakeholders in Australia, including through engaging the Crawford Fund.

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