This was outlined and presented during the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) Policy Advisory Council (PAC) meeting in Canberra, Australia last March. In general, ACIAR’s investment shall be directed on projects, which would result to mutual benefits with partner country and where Australian research and development (R&D) system has significant comparative advantage.
According to Dr. Patricio S. Faylon, executive director of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD) and the country’s representative to the ACIAR-PAC, the global and local opportunities besetting the agriculture, forestry and natural resources sectors (AFNR) in the Philippines have long become the determinants in crafting the national commodity R&D program thrust and direction. In particular, the National AFNR Science and Technology Framework has addressed the issues of food security, poverty alleviation, increased farm productivity and income, protection and conservation of the environment and natural resources, and global competitiveness.
Consequently, the ACIAR-supported projects being implemented within the National Agricultural Research System (NARS) have found their niche in the priority activities of the said national commodity R&D program thrust and direction. These include relevant programs in biotechnology, natural resources management, and policy research and advocacy.
Along with these ongoing programs and projects, the ACIAR-Philippines Annual Operational Plan 2004-2005 has included the development of strategies to improve technology transfer. Faylon emphasized that the details of the plan shall be the joint output of the Philippine NARS and the ACIAR-Philippines Liaison Office.