Lynnette Perez, Program Officer, Australian Agency for International Development
Short statement on AusAID's development priorities relevant to rural development
The Australian Government's strategy for the rural development sector in the aid program is to focus on reducing rural poverty by increasing opportunities for the poor to generate income. Rural development assistance is provided in agriculture, fisheries, forestry and research. The Rural Development Strategy is designed to offer a range of options to promote income generation that can be drawn on according to the needs of each country.
The three components of the overall program are: increasing agricultural sector productivity, stimulating rural non-farm employment and managing natural resources sustainably.
On the first component, it is recognized that more efficient farming, forestry and fisheries are needed to improve food security and incomes of the rural poor, as are improved marketing practices and more favourable policy environments. Aside from providing assistance through improved farm management practices, Australia also provides support to partner countries to diversify agriculture, fisheries and forestry products to meet evolving market demands.
The second focus of the rural development strategy promotes policies to stimulate non-farm development, which is expected to offer greater income potential for the poor than agriculture.
Under the third component, Australia's aid program will give priority to promoting sustainable forestry and fisheries practices that balance income generation needs with resource sustainability. Australia takes a three-pronged approach to working in partner countries:
assisting partner governments to develop and administer policies that will promote income generation;
working directly with rural communities on income generating projects; and
developing collaborative partnerships in agricultural research for development.
Complementing the specific income focus of the rural development sector, the aid program also targets basic needs and services in rural areas through education, governance, health and infrastructure activities.
The Australian Government delivers the aid program through Australian businesses, NGOs and research and development organizations as well as multilateral and international organizations. It works with partner countries and the international donor community to provide aid. As discussed earlier, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), which is the agricultural research and development arm of the Government's aid program, develops international agricultural research partnerships that reduce poverty, improve food security and promote sustainable natural resource management in developing countries.
In the Philippines, Australia's Aid program provides support to AusAID's initiatives aimed at developing the rural sector. A number of projects have been implemented over the years in support of Australia's Development Cooperation Program goal in the Philippines to reduce poverty and promote sustainable and equitable development. The Philippines-Australia Community Assistance Program (PACAP) directly supports community-based projects through directly funding Philippine NGOs and People's Organizations.
Australia has also collaborated with the FAO on a Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) Project to enable the Southern Philippines to be declared free of the disease. Australia also supports the Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Performance Enhancement Program (WPEP) that aims to enhance access of the under-served rural and urban poor to adequate water and sanitation services on a sustainable basis. It is a structured learning program that uses field-based action research.
In 1999, the Philippines-Australia Local Sustainability (PALS) Project commenced implementation to assist Local Government Units (LGUs) and local communities to plan and manage sustainable activities to improve the livelihood of the rural poor in the province of Misamis Occidental. These include the development and implementation by targeted local communities of microproject undertakings including on agriculture, fisheries, forestry, education, health and others.
Meanwhile, the Philippines-Australia Technical Assistance to Agrarian Reform and Development (PATSARRD) will be executed by FAO and is expected to commence early next year. It is designed to assist agrarian reform beneficiary families to improve their economic and social conditions.
