CARE – Final Report to Guernsey Overseas Aid Commission
Improved Farming & Food Security in the Ermera District
Timor-Leste 1st June 2012 – 30th June 2013
Safe Drinking Water and Food Security in Quthing, Lesotho
In 2012 the Guernsey Overseas Aid Commission (GOAC) donated £39,847 to CARE in support of its food security work in
Ermera District, in the Western Highland of Timor-Leste. The GOAC Project supported activities improving food security
and livelihoods in the Ermera District, in particular for the most vulnerable communities in Atsabe sub-district. This final
report presents to GOAC a panoramic view of the progress achieved between June 2012 and June 2013 thanks to the
funds provided.
Project Background
Timor-Leste is one of the poorest countries in the Asia-Pacific region with approximately 41 percent of the country’s
population living below the poverty line1. The country receives variable and unreliable rainfall and the mountainous and
largely deforested terrain with poor soils
means land is subject to high erosion rates.
In spite of these severe constraints, 80
percent of the population are heavily
dependent on agriculture, including
forestry and fisheries, for their livelihoods.
Agriculture is practiced mainly on a
subsistence basis with maize, rice, cassava,
sweet potatoes and beans being the staple
crops. With the exception of coffee, TimorLeste produces no significant quantities of
marketable surpluses. Although poverty
and food insecurity are widespread
throughout the country, the Western
Highlands are the most food insecure
region in the country2. Data from a recent
report from the “Seeds of Life” program
Figure 1 Project area and location of the sucos involved in the GOAC activities
(SoL), regarding nutrition status in Timo-Leste,
showed that overall stunting among rural children under five has been as high as 65% in the three most western
districts, with acute peaks in the districts of Bobonaro and Ermera, where stunting levels have been recorded up to 73%
and 69% respectively. At the same time, high stunting levels are matched by wasting levels of about 19% or by acute
malnourishment3. Root causes of food insecurity include: poor soils, improper farming techniques such as slash and burn
cultivation, watershed system degradation, lack of diversified farming, low yield of local crop varieties and lack of
reliable post-harvest techniques. Agricultural constraints are further exacerbated by other factors, including: low
education, inadequate feeding practices, and cultural beliefs such as local taboos regarding prohibitions on the
consumption of certain foods, especially by pregnant women, girls and infants4. All these factors lead to very low dietary
diversity which often affect proper nutrition and health status of women and children in particular.
1
http://data.worldbank.org/country/timor-leste
RDTLMOA, FAF, National Food Security Policy For Timor-Leste, 2005, EC Delegation To Timor-Leste - Country Technical Paper (Annex H), RFSA 2008
Fanzo J., Curran S., Denning G. (2013). “A Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture Strategy” for the Ministry of Agriculture and Fishery of Timor-Leste and Fini Ba Moris
(Seeds of Life).
4
Webb P. (2013). “Household Food and Nutrition Security Assessment in Timor-Leste: A Review of Data Quality, Gaps and Needs” AusAID Health Resource Facility
report.
2
3
Project Objectives and Actions
The overall goal of the GOAC project was to improve all year round food availability and nutritional levels of 2,700
vulnerable and food insecure people (500 households) through an estimated 70 Farmer groups in Ermera District, in
particular in the sub-district of Atsabe. In doing this, the project contributed to poverty reduction and sustainable
development of the Western Highland and of Timor-Leste. This was achieved through:
1) Provision to farmers’ groups of packages of vital farming equipment, tools and other inputs (including new
seed varieties, airtight seed and crop storage drums, livestock vaccines etc);
2) Provision of practical training to farmers on improved harvesting techniques, livestock care, agro-forestry and
conservation agriculture, home food garden cultivation and seed production and storage.
The following activities were undertaken during the course of the project:
 Project socialization, identification of needs and beneficiaries, farmers groups formation;
 Delivery of productive inputs such as good quality seeds, tools, construction materials for building water harvesting
systems and veterinary kits to assist small scale livestock activities;
 Capacity building to beneficiary farmers groups and MAF field staff on improved farming practices, land
management and basic principles of animal health and veterinary assistance;
 Distribution of post-harvest equipment and technical assistance to reduce losses and improve methods of grain
conservation at a community level.
Project Activities
The project began with socialization, from an institutional level through to local authorities at district, sub-district and
community level with the aim of introducing the Project into communities. Afterwards identification of needs and target
beneficiaries was carried out within the communities. This phase was implemented through community-based
participatory planning and a Capacity and Vulnerability Assessment. Through wealth ranking, communities identified the
most in need of inclusion and together with CARE staff and local authorities made efforts to engage marginalised groups
including farmers worst affected by food scarcity, women-headed households and the most vulnerable and poorest
families with disabled members. Farmers groups were identified in order to strengthen mutual support within the
communities and to ensure an effective and sustainable intervention that addressed the beneficiaries collectively. CARE
established 58 farmers groups in Atsabe sub-district, with a total of 881 participants (399 women, 482 men). Although
this is fewer than the targeted 70 farmers groups, the number of participants was in fact higher. We can estimate to
have reached 881 households (compared to the targeted 500) and benefited approximately 4,846 vulnerable and food
insecure people.5
 Total of Farmer groups established:
 Total of participants (direct beneficiaries):
 Total of beneficiaries (indirect + direct):
5
58
881
4,845
We consider that each household has between 4 to 7 members. In order to calculate the number of total beneficiaries, it was used
a number of 5.5 members per HH. This information was extracted from the base line survey of HAN project.
No.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Suco
Lasaun
Obulo
Laubonu
Batumanu
Leimialeten
Tiarlelo
Malabe
Total
Groups
8
8
8
10
8
7
9
58
Female
38
58
44
72
72
47
68
399
Male
75
55
79
83
81
37
72
482
Total
113
113
123
155
153
84
140
881
Table 1: List of groups established within each suco in sub-district Atsabe, Ermera District
Project activities were implemented in coordination with CDEP (Centro de Desenvolvemento de Ekonmomia Popular), a
local NGO who has a partnership with CARE International Timor Leste to implement the Food security program. CDEP
staff were seconded to the project to assist in facilitating the implementation of field activities, and provide
organizational support and technical assistance.
Promotion of production of good quality and nutritious food:
The Project focused particularly on maize,
vegetable and fruits. i) Maize (Zea mays L.) is
cultivated as a seasonal rainfed crop and it is the
main staple food and main source of carbohydrate
for rural families in the Western Highland. GOAC’s
Project delivered packages of good quality local
maize seeds “Noi Mutin” and “Sele” both produced
in the country by the Australian funded program
Seeds of Life (SoL). ii) Home gardens can supply a
wide range of vegetable and fruits, making them
the major source of nutrient food and at the same
time, representing a valuable income generator for
the farmers. The Project procured and delivered
vegetable seeds packages comprising of six kinds of
vegetable seeds (such as lettuce, eggplant and
tomato) leguminous seeds, fruit tree seedlings (such as breadfruit, Papaya
and Rambutan) and three hand
tools for soil preparation and gardening, including a
shovel, hoe and watering can.
Home Garden in Atsabe
The Project provided 20 farmers groups, who had a dependable source of water,
with materials and technical advice to the construct water harvesting systems to
stock water and irrigate home gardens. Once the water ponds were completed,
some farmer groups expressed an interest in raising fresh water fish, either
spontaneously introducing fish to their water ponds or requesting fingerlings from
CARE field staff. In response, CARE identified a local supplier of fresh water fish
distributed some stocks of tilapia and carp. In order to consolidate these
aquaculture activities in the field, CARE and other members of the European
Commission Food Security Coordination Group, (including Mercy Corps, Hivos, Food
and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)) and in collaboration with
the World Fish Center (WFC) organized a national workshop entitled “Aquaculture
Water pond at Malabe
for Food Security and Nutrition” where major topics relating to inland fish farming in
Timor-Leste were debated by all interested stakeholders. The workshop was
followed by a three-day training program, with the objective to strengthen theoretical and practical skills of field staff on
aquaculture to partner’s technical staff and extension officers from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF).
With the aim of stimulating the production of highly nutritional food, food security and income generation the Project
promotes the establishment of livestock farmers groups. Training and workshops were addressed to farmers and local
MAF staff in all seven sucos6 of Atsabe sub-district. Good quality animals (goats) and materials for animal housing were
then distributed to the groups. The livestock component was organized through micro-credit revolving schemes, or
livestock banks, whereby farmers establish an agreement in which they accept to pass to other members of the farmer
group some kids from the first litter born from the goats they receive. Only after this do they become the owners of the
goats. This agreement is made between the recipient farmers, the rest of the farmers group, the community chief and
the local administration, under the supervision of CARE.
Facilitation of improvements in food production practices and in diversification of livelihoods: Representatives from
each farmer group, together with MAF suco-level extension workers and village livestock workers, participated in
capacity building activities. The training was divided into two major parts: the first dealt with improved land
management practices and agro-forestry systems, the second with principles of animal health and veterinary assistance.
Training in animal health and veterinary assistance for livestock activities in Maliana
6
The five up-down administrative divisions in Timor-Leste are (i) national state, (ii) district, (iii) sub-district, (iv) suco, (v) aldeia (sub-village).
In delivering training, CARE collaborated with the veterinary division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fishery and
PERMATIL (Permaculture Timor-Leste), a local NGO with experience in the area of organic agriculture and agro-forestry
training. CARE and its partners prepared the training curriculum that dealt with theoretical skills on i) the importance of
healthy soils and empirical systems for identification, ii) organic fertilization and water management, iii) crop rotation
and advantages of intercropping with fruit trees within home gardens under agro-forestry systems, iv) identification of
most common diseases in small livestock and reporting systems, vi) animal vaccination and management of basic
veterinary kits. Each theoretical part was integrated into practical exercises in a pilot plot located at the training site.
Enhancing the households’ resilience to food shortages: According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nations (FAO), Timorese farmers suffer from heavy post-harvest losses, with some 30 percent of the country’s
maize crop being destroyed by insects or other pests. The GOAC Project aimed to reduce losses amongst the target
farmers groups, improving post-harvesting methods through i) provision of manual maize sheller for easing the maize
shelling process, ii) metallic drums for seed storage and iii) support to build seed storage warehouses. Furthermore,
farmers group members attended the training on post-harvesting best practices,
including the following subjects:






Differences between seeds and grain, rationale for quality (healthy) seed;
Importance of isolation distance;
Seed germination, rate and density;
Seed harvesting;
Drying and storage systems;
How to organize a farmer group, basic concepts of a community based seed
production group.
In addition to the training, technical assistance was given to farmer groups to
establish community based informal seed production groups. One of the
purposes of the group is the selection of good quality seeds and exchange
between people in the communities.
Seed storage
Strengthen farmers’ capacity on community based adaptation: in response to a range of environmental problems
mentioned above (e.g. high rate of deforestation in steep slopes, strong erratic rainfall, high erosion incidence, etc.) the
Project introduced improved crop varieties recommended by Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries because they are
tolerant to drought, heavy rain and strong wind. Furthermore the Project promoted Sloping Agriculture Land Technology
(SALT) among 9 farmers groups which help farmers resolve problems regarding drought and soil erosion. The SALT
system is an agro-forestry practice that includes a mix of trees, shrubs and annual crops with various purposes such
food, forage and timber production, but at the same time SALT help farmers retain water and reduce soil erosion. SALT
enables farmers to stabilize and enrich soils further to diversify crop production and generate incomes. Seedlings utilized
in Atsabe were Mahoni (Swietenia macrophylla), Teak (Tectona grandis), Ironwood (Casuarina equisetifolia), Vertiver
(Chrysopogon zizanioides), Rumput Gaka (Pennisetum purpureum ), Gamal (Gliricidia sepium), King grass (Pennisetum
purpureum) and Leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala).
Overall Progress and Sustainability of the Project
Overall the project has been a great success with all activities completed, more final beneficiaries supported than
originally planned and the budget fully expended with minimal variance. Due to the seasonal nature of the activities the
majority of activities were implemented during the second half of the year when the new planting season started.
Following the support of GOAC funds, activities within the farmers groups in the sub-district of Atsabe are expected to
continue. CARE has taken a highly participatory community approach whereby in all cases farmers were expected to
take initiative, invest time and materials and identify their own needs in order to encourage ownership and
commitment to the activities undertaken. CARE will continue supporting food security activities through its HAN and
Health programs. The informal seed production groups as well as the livestock banks, if well managed, will allow long
term benefits to the communities. Farmers will also get long term benefit from the agro-forestry activities and trainings
on improved farming practices, improving their land and their capacity to implement community based adaptation,
reducing their vulnerability on soil erosion and climate change.
The GOAC Project achieved its main objectives and was well addressed to a precise beneficiary group within a specific
geographical area and the intervention had a good balance between delivery of productive inputs and capacity building.
However, as “Seeds of Life” reported in its annual plan 2011-12, underlying causes of food insecurity in Timor-Leste
include low yields of staple crops, vulnerability of unfavourable seasons and natural disasters, lack of cash incomes to
purchase food during periods of shortfall, post-harvest losses and low market distributional capacities. As a result, food
insecurity continues to be a significant challenge to rural communities in the Western Highlands of Timor-Leste,
although progress is being made.
Building a goat pen with farmers contributions of wood and labour
Home Garden with a wide variety of different plants and trees