TIMOR-LESTE AGRICULTURAL REHABILITIATION, ECONOMIC GROWTH AND NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT FINAL REPORT (JULY 2003 TO DECEMBER 2005) Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Dili, Timor-Leste University of Hawaii at Manoa Honolulu, Hawaii, USA September 2006 We dedicate this report in memory of Andre S. du Toit, who provided initiative, support, hope and energy to many in Timor-Leste Andre S. du Toit (1962-2004) cover top left Agroforestry nursery training of MAFF staff in Triloka (Photographer: John Powley, UH) cover bottom left PRA exercise with women farmers in Venilale (Photographer: Harold McArthur, UH) cover bottom right Improved crop performance with soil testing in Fatumaca (Photographer: Richard Ogoshi, UH) cover top right Rice seedlings using ICM techniques in Seical (Photographer: Richard Ogoshi, UH) center First candlenut oil shipment leaving Dili for Hawaii (Photographer: Sildonia Sarmento, DAI/Dili) map on cover page and page 13 from Map Design Unit of Th e World Bank, April 2000 contributing authors Goro Uehara, Harold J. McArthur, James B. Friday, Michael Jones, Richard M. Ogoshi, Gordon Y. Tsuji editor & designer Sharon Balas Th is publication was made possible through support provided by the USAID Mission/Dili and Jakarta, Bureau for Asia and the Offi ce of Natural Resources Management, Bureau for Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade, U.S. Agency for International Development, under terms of Award No. LAG-G-00-97-00002-00. Th e opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily refl ect the views of the U.S. Agency for International Development. ii Timor-Leste Final Report EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SUMARIU EZEKUTIVU Participating farmers in three agro-ecological zones within the Agrikultor sira nebe’e partisipa iha zona tolu agro-ecological Seical watershed in Timor-Leste were able to increase maize nian iha area dalan mota Seical, iha Timor-Leste, aumenta yields from 1.5 tonnes/ha to 4.8 tonnes/ha and rice yields rezultadu batar hosi tonelada 1.5/ha to’o tonelada 4.8/ha; from 2.0 tonnes/ha to 4.9 tonnes/ha. These increases were no hare hosi tonelada 2.0/ha to’o 4.9 tonelada/ha. Resultadu achieved not simply by adding fertilizer, but by enabling the diak ne’e la’os liu hosi aumenta deit fertilizante, maibe Hawaii T-L Ministry staff to diagnose nutrient deficiencies with soil mos suporta Ministerio Agricultura Floresta e Pescas, atu uza test kits and eliminate the cause for the low crop yields. material koko rai hodi halo diagnostika ba nutriente nebe’e menus no rezolve problema nebe’e uluk halo rezultadu ki’ik. The project recognized that the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well in Timor-Leste, yet this human quality must be Projetu ne’e rekonhese katak ema Timor iha duni espíritu atu linked to the ecological characteristics of the land in order sai hanesan emprezario, maibe ita tenki halo ligasaun diak ba to exploit its resourcefulness. Aquaculture near the coastal karakteristiku ekolojiku ho kapasidade rai nian atu bele realiza zone, poultry and animal husbandry in the middle elevation posibilidade diak. Hakiak ikan besik tasi, manu ho animal and vegetable production in the cooler, upper elevations are ki’ik iha foho lolon, i modo iha foho leten nebe’e malirin; ne’e income- and job-generating enterprises that can be developed hotu aktividade nebe’e bele kria rendimentu ho servisu diak in one watershed and replicated in other watersheds through- iha area ida, depois bele replika iha dalan mota seluk iha rai out the country. Timor tomak. The importance of matching the biological requirements of Liu hosi aktividade Kamii ita hare katak importente tebes se an enterprise to the physical characteristics of the land was atu halo biznis, rai nia fisik tenke pas ho buat nebe’e biznis never more evident then with candlenut. The candlenut tenke hetan hosi rai. Ai kamii moris diak iha Timor tomak, tree grows virtually everywhere in Timor-Leste, but more maibe barak liu moris iha foho lolon, iha rai as natoon. abundantly at the middle elevations. When the Timorese Wainhira agrikultor sira haree katak folin diak, sira fa’an farmer deems the price is right, the nut is sold for export to kamii ba ema nebe’e halo esporta ba Indonesia, nebe’e ema Indonesia where it is used as a food condiment. The project uza hanesan temperus. Projetu ne’e ajuda hodi identifika was able to help identify a different export market. Now oil is merkadu exporta oin seluk. Agora dadauk, emprezario extracted from candlenut and marketed internationally as an hasai mina hosi kamii nia musan depois fa’an ba merkadu ingredient in cosmetics. This new market adds value to a local internasional hodi sai henasan ingrediente ba kozmétiku. product, enabling businesses to generate new income and Merkadu foun ne’e aumenta valor ba produtu lokal, fasilita jobs. More importantly, rural households in Baucau can now biznis kria rendimentu no servisu. Liu-liu, uma kain iha earn new income by harvesting, processing and selling nut Baucau agora bele hetan rendimentu foun liu husi koleta, from trees that grow in and around their villages. prosesu, i fa’an musan hosi ai nebe’e moris iha sira nia aldea laran. The importance of participatory stewardship was a lesson that Lisaun ida nebe’e ema hotu bele aprende katak importante can be learned by all. People who live by farming often fail to servisu hamutuk Ema nebe’e hela ho agricultor dala barak see the slow degradation of their land and surrounding en- la repara katak sira nia rai no ambiente hetan degradasaun vironment and do not support efforts by outsiders to reverse no sira la fo tulun ema hosi liur nebe’e hadia fali rai. Projetu the process. The project made the assumption that villagers ne’e foti asumsaun katak ema iha aldeia no sira nia lider and their leaders would support land conservation practices sira, sei suporta aktividade kuandu sira iha influensia hodi and policies if they had a voice in the design and implemen- dezenu no implementa aktividade sira ne’e, liuliu kuandu tation of activities, and especially if the people benefited from ema sira hetan benefisio husi aktividade hirak ne’e. Practis the outcomes. These conservation practices, such as growing konservasaun hirak ne’e – hanesan kuda ai teka nebe’e produz privately owned teak trees that produce valuable timber or ai kabelak nebe’e iha valor diak, ka ai kamii nebe’e fo musan candlenut trees that produce marketable nuts, have a better ho folin diak – bele hetan resultadu diak liu duke aktividade chance of succeeding than large scale government-owned bo’ot governu nian atu kuda ai. Diak liu tan, kuda ai balun tree plantings, for example. Moreover, fast growing nitrogen nebe’e moris lalais no kaer nitrojéniu, nebe’e bele fo hahan ba fixing trees that provide fodder, fuel wood and income to animal sira, ai sunu, no rendimentu ba uma kain, iha tempu households and at the same time improve soil quality by hanesan ai ne’e aumenta rai nia bokur liu prosesu hatama sequestering nitrogen-rich organic carbon in soils offer a way karbon nebe’e riku ho nitrojen, fo dalan atu fo proteksaun no to protect and preserve the land for future generations. preserve rai diak ba jerasaun sira iha futuru. This report also lists opportunities for future development, Relatoriu ne’e mos lista oportunidade ba desenvolvimento for in the end, the principal lesson learned is that agricultural futuru nian, tanba, ikus liu, lisaun prinsipal nebe’e ami foti rehabilitation is about enabling customers, whether they be katak rehabilitasaun agrikotoral konaba fo capacidade ba farmers, Ministry of Agriculture personnel or policy makers consumador – ema nebe’e deit, hanesan agricultor, ema hosi to make better choices for themselves and for the society in MAFP, ka lei nain sira – hodi sira bele hili diak liu ba sira nia which they live. an no ba sira nia sosiedade tomak. 1 INTRODUCTION based approaches to attain project objectives. Another important role of the supporting SM CRSP institution This report summarizes both the lessons learned and the was to encourage MAFF staff to shift from a top-down accomplishments of a field-support project developed technology transfer to a bottom-up approach that al- in Timor-Leste at the request and support of the U.S. lows clients to exercise choice and to participate in the Agency for International Development (USAID) Mis- process of changing the farming system for the better, sion/Dili. The project was specifically designed to enable not only in the eyes of the extension staff, but for the the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries clients themselves. This combination of science-based (MAFF) of Timor-Leste (T-L) to revitalize agriculture methodology and participatory approaches is reflected and sustainably manage the nation’s natural resources. in the project accomplishments summarized in the fol- Three objectives were jointly developed by the project lowing sections. team that included MAFF and the supporting U.S. institution consisting of the Soil Management Collab- ACCOMPLISHMENTS BY OBJECTIVE orative Research Support Program (SM CRSP) and the Objective 1. Increase Agricultural Productivity and University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM). Food Security The three project objectives were: 1. Increase agricultural productivity and food security. Maize (corn) and rice are the two staple crops in Timor- 2. Increase household income and create new employ- Leste. Rice is the preferred staple, but most families are ment opportunities. unable to grow rice and cultivate maize instead. Grain 3. Foster adoption of farming practices that protect and yields of maize and rice are low, ranging from near 1.5 preserve the environment for future generations. tonnes/ha for maize and 2.5 tonnes/ha for rice. Many households are able to produce grain to meet their food To enable MAFF to revitalize Timor-Leste’s agriculture requirements for nine to ten months of the year and de- and manage the nation’s natural resources in a sustain- pend on purchased food or food aid for the remainder able manner, the University of Hawaii worked hand-in- of the year. Under Objective 1, MAFF was introduced hand with the research and extension staff of MAFF to to current science-based diagnostic methods to identify achieve all three project objectives. By involving MAFF the cause of problems associated with low grain yields in project activities, capacity building of the MAFF staff and to conduct field trials in farmer fields to test and and their ability to continue to perform at a high level after demonstrate the utility of this approach. Figures 1 and the conclusion of this project became an important aim. 2 illustrate the before and after outcomes of implement- ing science-based methods to improve performance of The role of the University of Hawaii and the SM CRSP maize crops in Baucau, Timor-Leste. Figure 3 shows was to enable the research and extension staff of MAFF MAFF personnel learning to use a soil test kit to diag- to replace costly and time consuming trial-and-error nose nutrient deficiencies in soil samples collected from methods with more efficient and cost-effective, science- various locations in the country. Figure 1. Poor corn. Figure 2. Good corn. 2 Timor-Leste Final Report use. Moreover, that nomenclature also includes climatic information for crop selection and management. Portuguese soil scientists produced a soil survey report of Timor-Leste in 1978, three years after Portugal terminat- ed the colonial status of East Timor as it was then known. The resulting soil map was determined to be reasonably accurate geomorphically by USDA soil scientist, Patrick Niemeyer, who was invited by the University of Hawaii to Timor-Leste to verify if the Portuguese mapping unit delineations were consistent with the geomorphology of the landscape. Since they were, the USDA/NRCS produced a digitized version of the soils map of Timor- Leste. The next step would then be for MAFF to cor- Figure 3. MAFF participants at the STK or soil test kit training. roborate the classification of soils reported in the soil survey report and to locate them onto to the digitized By using this diagnostic tool, MAFF researchers have soils map. Once soils are identified, assessments of land discovered that most of the soils of Timor-Leste as use can be made on the relative similarity of soils, and reported in the soil survey of the country are well-sup- hence climate and environment between and among plied with the nutrient potassium, and that this nutri- watersheds that would accelerate the transfer process for ent, which was recommended for application to all soils site specific nutrient management. Lessons learned in in the past, need not be applied in most instances. The Baucau or any other watershed or district could then be test results also show that most soils are moderately applied to other watersheds through a process referred high in phosphorus and this nutrient need not be ap- to as transfer by analogy rather than by trial-and-error. plied at the rate previously recommended. In addition to these findings, MAFF researchers exposed the sale The ALGIS staff at MAFF and officers from the Land of adulterated fertilizers. They discovered that fertilizer and Property Division of the Ministry of Justice par- sold as potassium chloride was in fact a cheap grade of ticipated in a training workshop on application of the table salt, sodium chloride. These findings have been digitized soil map for technology transfer by analogy conveyed to the Minister and should result in major (Figure 4). changes in monitoring fertilizer quality and in fertilizer Figure 5 shows a group of farmers and an extension recommendations for the nation as a whole, and help agent learning about a new way of growing rice from a farmers use fertilizers in a manner that is more cost-ef- rice agronomist from the International Rice Research fective and environmentally safe. Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines. How will MAFF take lessons learned in one watershed to all other watersheds in the country? Watersheds are places where effects can be traced back to causes so that interactions that produce positive con- sequences can be promoted and negative ones eliminat- ed. A watershed can be characterized by its biophysical and socioeconomic components. Understanding both components and their interactions will allow MAFF to predict potential outcomes related to our three objec- tives on food security, economic growth and natural resources management. A first step would be identification of the kinds of soils in a watershed. Once identified and classified, the no- menclature associated with that classification provides MAFF access to a global data base on soil management Figure 4. Participants at a training workshop on the use of the T-L information that can be used and interpreted for local digitized soil map for transferring technology by analogy. 3 Figure 6 shows bundles of rice seedlings scattered in a field for subsequent transplanting. A clump of seed- lings containing four to six plants will be transplanted randomly throughout the field. Figures 7a and 7b show the new way of planting seedlings. The seedbed foun- dation is formed by lining the base of the small bed with banana leaves and establishing borders bound by banana tree trunks. The banana leaf is covered with a layer of soil and the seeds are allowed to germinate and grow in this layer but the leaf mat acts as root barrier and enables the seedlings to be harvested easily without damaging the roots as shown in Figure 7c. Figure 7a. Establishing the mat nursery. With this new method, single seedlings, as opposed to four to six seedlings in the traditional method, are planted 20 to 25 cm apart in straight rows as shown in Figure 7b. Mat nursery. Figure 5. Dr. Balasubramanian of IRRI with rice farmers in Aileu. Balasubramanian is the third person from the right and the extension agent, Joao Rodrigues, is on the extreme left. To the right of Balasubramanian is Chuck Attarzadeh, a former Peace Corps volunteer in Timor-Leste, serving as an interpreter and trainer of the new rice planting technique. Figure 7c. Rice seedlings for transplant. Figures 8a & b. This new rice planting method doubles rice yields, but what has impressed farmers most is the noticeable reduction in drudgery and time required for weeding. The straight rows not only ensure proper plant spacing, but they allow mechanical weeding to replace traditional hand weeding, thereby reducing two days of weeding time, under the previous planting scheme, to two hours with the new. Under Objective 1, the research and extension staff of the Ministry has gained confidence that adoption of sci- Figure 6. Traditional rice farming. 4 Timor-Leste Final Report With 26 watersheds in 13 administrative districts, a watershed management approach was deemed to be the more appropriate and feasible mechanism by which the SM CRSP project could implement activities to minimize food insecurity and improve the social and economic well being of the rural poor. The challenge was to find ways to work at the watershed level where one must often deal with multiple stakeholders in mul- tiple locations (differing in temperature, i.e., elevation, and rainfall) and competing interests. The watershed is also a place where our three objectives (raising agricultural productivity, expanding export Figure 8a. Rice planting in rows. crops and achieving food security and economic growth through sustainable natural resource management) and their interactions, both good and bad, intersected. In addition to their many different physical attributes, watersheds also contain numerous social configurations, since watersheds are commonly transected by numer- ous villages and human management entities, be they political, ethnic or religious in nature. For these reasons, it made sense to take a participatory approach in the design and implementation of a watershed management project. To understand why only a limited land area was used for growing food and cash crops, the project sought out farmer groups in villages across the watershed landscape to participate in a land use group study to utilize their ingenuity to generate income. Figure 8b. Rows of rice in Aileu. Prospects of increasing household income were listed in order of likely success as leafy vegetables and tomatoes, ence-based methodology and a bottom-up, participatory followed by fish and livestock and lastly by candlenut. approach to technology transfer to clients can result in The latter was considered a safety net of sorts as the nuts rapid improvement in agricultural performance. Future were sold to a candlenut trader for export to Indonesia efforts should focus on the value chain that leads to suc- when farmers needed cash. cessful marketing of farm products. Most Timor-Leste households in rural areas are subsistence farmers and Chromolaena ordata (Figure 9) is commonly recognized will need to link their production capability to markets as an indicator plant associated with fertile soils. The beyond village borders to Dili and the outside world as abundant growth of this plant in the watershed was ini- tially viewed by University of Hawaii, Manoa (UHM) Objective 2. Increase Household Income and Create researchers as a good sign. They quickly learned, New Employment Opportunities however, that chromolaena was considered an invasive shrub by MAFF and was commonly identified by vil- As a largely agrarian society, with most of its people still lagers as a constraint to increasing land for pasture and living in rural areas and dependent on agriculture for arable lands for food and cash crops at all elevations in their livelihood, it is natural and logical that agriculture the watershed. Although it would have been simple to is the stimulus for a broad-based, rural-led economic defoliate the shrub with herbicides, this would not have growth in Timor-Leste. These rural agricultural areas been a sustainable solution, considering the prohibi- can be found from sea level to mountain tops across the tively high cost of herbicides and the large extent of the length and breadth of the country in watersheds that invasion. opened either north or south. 5 Figure 9. Chromalaena ordata in Ostico, Gariuai. Since chromolaena is a plant that stores or accumulates Figure 11. Vegetable production in Venilale (high elevation). nitrogen, it would make an excellent soil amendment, or a compost if used before it flowered (Figure 10). Thus, those who chose to plant leafy vegetables or to- matoes were asked to use chromolaena as a soil amend- ment, i.e., compost. Intuitively, farmer groups in the higher elevations and cooler environments successfully grew leafy vegetables (Figure 11) while those in the lower elevations found greater success with tomatoes (Figure 12). Markets for these vegetables extended beyond the village borders to villages in the lower elevations and to the capital, Dili. These market links were established unexpectedly by drivers of buses using their transportation network (Figure 13). Figure 12. Tomatoes growing in the Seical (low elevation). Figure 10. Chromolaena compost pit. Figure 13 . Roadside sale of vegetables to bus driver bound for Dili. With the exception of off shore gas and oil resources, improve the employment and income-generating situ- the land area of Timor-Leste has few exploitable ation in rural areas of the country. The MAFF and the resources other than the natural resource base of land, SM CRSP institution looked into several possibilities water and biota. The coffee industry in Timor-Leste including marketing of black rice, honey, candlenut, provides jobs and income for local people, but many virgin coconut oil and vanilla bean locally and in the more such enterprises would need to be developed to international market. After discussions with MAFF, 6