Agriculture and the instruments of change in Timor-Leste

Abstract

The research is concerned with agricultural systems that mutually enhance livelihoods, nutrition and natural resource management. Taking Timor-Leste as a case study, the research documents how the current institutional environment shapes this objective; and from the findings, identifies what actions, at various scales, can better support the adoption of multifunctional agriculture (MFA) in Timor Leste.

The thesis begins by establishing a) the premise of pursuing MFA based on the need to improve the environmental and socio-economic outcomes of agriculture; and b) core concepts underpinning the thesis’ development including Sustainable Agriculture Intensification, the Principal Instruments of Change and the Institutional Environment with particular reference to how institutional change happens.

To assess the ways in which Timor-Leste’s institutional environment supports or inhibits the adoption of MFA, this research examined agricultural policy, budget allocations to agriculture, agricultural institutions (education, extension, marketing and research) and five major agricultural development projects. While findings are both enabling and inhibiting, the many and varied challenges are significant. Key inhibiting factors include the absence of a clear agricultural policy to drive adoption of MFA; insufficient allocation of State resources to agricultural development; and the need for greater collaboration to strengthen institutional capacity and build environmental, human and social capital.