ACIAR

Presenter Mr David ShearerDirector Corporate, ACIAR

Topic “Corporate presentation: About ACIAR and its Future”

Date 6 June 2013

Venue ACIAR Fisheries Project Leader meetingPort Stephens, NSW

ACIARACIAR ROUNDTABLES – APRIL 2013

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Outline

• Comprehensive Aid Policy Framework• Brief overview of ACIAR today• Independent review of ACIAR• Budget• Draft strategic plan• Internal “things” we are working on

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ACIAR’s mission

• To achieve more productive and sustainable agricultural systems for the benefit of developing countries and Australia through international agricultural research partnerships

• Tested and robust

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Comprehensive Aid Policy Framework (CAPF)• Guides scale-up to 0.5% GNI by 2017-18

– Geography and strategic goals• Aid allocation criteria

– Poverty– National interest– Our capacity to make a difference– Current scale and effectiveness

• Results framework– MDG; headline; efficiency & effectiveness

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Saving livesPromoting opportunities for

allSustainable economic

developmentEffective

governance

Humanitarian and disaster

preparedness and response

>More than 10 million children will be vaccinated, reducing child deaths and illness

>More than 1 million additional births will be attended by a skilled birth attendant

>More than 8.5 million people will be provided with increased access to safe water and women will be equally represented on water and sanitation management committees

>More than 5 million additional people will have increased access to basic sanitation and 5 million people will have increased knowledge of hygiene practices

>4 million more boys and girls will be enrolled in school with 24,000 classrooms built or upgraded and 1.2 million students provided with financial or nutritional support

>190,000 teachers and 300,000 school officials will be trained and 12 million textbooks provided, contributing to 20 million boys and girls obtaining a better quality education

>More than 100,000 people will be provided with disability services like prostheses and more than 500,000 boys and girls will attend schools that are more accessible to children with disabilities

>40,000 women survivors of violence will receive services, including counselling

>At least 17,000 people (at least half of them women) will be awarded tertiary scholarships and return home to assist their countries’ economic development

>People’s access to services and markets will be improved with 9,600km of roads constructed, rehabilitated or maintained

>750,000 farmers (at least 40 per cent women) will be able to access new agricultural technologies, resulting in increased crop value of over half a billion dollars

>2.3 million poor people (at least 50 per cent women) will have increased access to financial services such as loans to start small businesses and 1.4 million poor people will increase their incomes through market development programs

>At least 4.2 million vulnerable women and men and children will be provided with social protection support such as cash transfers or basic nutritional support

>Up to 20 countries will be assisted with adaptation programs to reduce vulnerability to climate change and up to 10 countries will be assisted to minimise carbon emissions through technological and regulatory support as their economies grow

>Communities will have improved safety with 14,000 law and justice officials trained

>Partner governments will become more effective at providing basic services to the poor with 23 countries supported to improve public financial management, training provided for 17,000 public servants (at least 25 per cent women), and 680 civil society organisations supported to track service provision

>30 million vulnerable people will be provided with life-saving assistance in conflict and crisis situations

>AusAID disaster response will be launched within 48 hours of a request for assistance in anticipated humanitarian crises

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ACIAR today

2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 20120

10

20

30

40

50

60

Staff Numbers

2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 20120

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

Project Numbers

2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 20120

10

20

30

40

50

Country Numbers

2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012$0

$20 $40 $60 $80

$100 $120 $140 $160

Administered Budget‘000,000

2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 $-

$0.5

$1.0

$1.5

$2.0

$2.5

Average Project Size ($)‘000,000

Observations

• Number of countries engaged are trending upwards, almost doubling in the last 5 years.

• Administered budget figures are trending upwards, more than doubling in the last 5 years.

• Project size and complexity are both trending upwards.

• Staff numbers have fluctuated slightly but largely remained the same.

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Budget outline• Australia

– ODA to $5.7 billion in 2013-14. – Increase of approximately $500 million or 9.6 per

cent on 2012-13. – 0.37% of GNI. 0.5% of GNI target delayed to 2017-

18.

• ACIAR– Administered from $82,332K in 2012-13 to

$83,720K in 2013-14 – Ongoing funding from AusAID anticipated – Departmental shows a decline in 2013-14 and

2014-15 with a turnaround in 2015-16 and 2016-17. – Draw on management fees from AusAID to support

the delivery of our program. – Overall good outcome

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Budget

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Expenditure by region

Region 2012-13 2013-14

Pacific 14% 16%

East Asia 41% 46%

South and West Asia 17% 21%

Sub-Saharan Africa 22% 15%

MENA 7% 2%

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Independent review

• Focussed on appropriateness, effectiveness and efficiency

• Commissioned by Minister Carr last Sept– First since 1998

• Independent panel– Mr Bill Farmer AO; Prof Ron Duncan; Dr

Wendy Jarvie; Mr Terry Enright• Comprehensive consultations• Sets future direction for ACIAR

– Recommendations accepted by Minister Carr

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Future of ACIAR• Retain independence, but part of WoG

ODA process• Consider future issues – nutrition,

mining, energy, climate change, “stresses on production from ocean fisheries”

• Evolve partnerships due to changing capability (individual, institutional and regional)

• Tell our story• Better stakeholder engagement

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Review recommendations• Rec 1: Position ACIAR fully within new

whole of government process, including Rec 3: country strategies, but Rec 6: annual strategy setting for Commission

• Rec 5: ACIAR lead approach to CGIAR engagement

• Rec 8: new programmatic, regional and partnerships with emerging economies

• Rec 10: Focus aligned with CAPF and “innovative collaborations”

• Rec 12: multidisciplinary approach, Rec 13: involving business and NGOs

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Review recommendations• Rec 17: improve transparency of project

partner selection, Rec 19: integrated program management database and Rec 20: systematic approach for CAPF reporting (Rec 24: continue own impact and adoption studies)

• Rec 25: develop high level narrative, Rec 26: WoG public affairs and Rec 27: strategic stakeholder engagement

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Strategic plan

• To – Give effect to recommendations from

Independent Review– Give clarity to partners about

geographic and thematic focus, and results to be achieved

– Position ACIAR well for the future as a capable institution delivering high impact results as part of Australia’s development assistance effort

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Strategic goals

1. Improve food security

2. Improve income, employment and enterprise opportunities

3. Reduce negative impacts of climate change and other environmental factors

4. Build individual and institutional research for development capacity

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Where we will work• Bilateral = 70%, global = 30%• Influenced by:

– the level of poverty– Australia’s national interest; – Australia’s capacity to deliver and make a

difference– the scale and effectiveness– which countries require agricultural research

investment– where Australian research partnership is an

appropriate mechanism– the benefits that are likely to accrue for that country

and for other countries with similar needs and potential.

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Results we will achieve• Focussed on poverty impacts, through

research outputs and farmer adoption• Australian Government results for food

security: – 750,000 poor women and men who gain

access to and use agricultural technologies,

– USD0.5B of additional agricultural production

• Benefits to Australia are an important contributor

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Internal “things”

• Business systems improvements– Integrated systems– Project development process

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Thank you