Enhancing Rural Access Agro-Forestry (‘ERA Agro-Forestry’): Improving access to agro-forestry areas

Timor-Leste is one of the least developed countries in the region. Its economy is essentially agriculture- based, with approximately 70% of its total population of about 1.1 million living in rural areas. The rural areas account for about 3/4 of the country’s poor . Subsistence farming provides the main source of livelihoods for the large majority of the rural population. Agricultural productivity however is low when compared with other countries in the region and suffers from insufficient diversification. A key constraint to economic development is the poor condition of rural infrastructure in general, and the rural road network in particular . In fact, the majority or the rural roads are little more than tracks, and as such are largely unmaintainable in their current state. The consequence of poor connectivity in the rural areas is obvious. A major portion of rural households continue to rely on subsistence farming and lack access to basic services such as health and education, proper sanitation and reliable water supply. On the other hand, evidence from the work of rural road programmes, such as ERA and R4D , in providing reliable transport access clearly show the extent of the development potential. When road access is improved and maintained, development do take place, facilitating the provision of basic services, an increase agricultural extension services leading to exports of agricultural produce, access to markets and an increase in other economic activities. Equally, the training of local contractors in executing rural road works has shown benefits beyond the confines of the project as these entrepreneurs continue to carry out public works funded by other sources than the ERA project, including improving and maintaining rural roads elsewhere in the country. The Partnership for Sustainable Agro-Forestry (PSAF) between Timor-Leste, the EU, Germany and ILO is to contribute to a peaceful, inclusive and sustainable development in Timor-Leste, through improved rural access, the creation of employment, economic and domestic revenue opportunities, and a durable reduction in food insecurity and malnutrition in rural areas. The Overall Objective of this joint partnership (2017-2021), which is described in the EU Action Document, is "To contribute to a peaceful inclusive and sustainable development in Timor-Leste, through improved rural access, the creation of employment, economic and domestic revenue opportunities, and a durable reduction in food insecurity and malnutrition in rural areas". The PSAF has two Specific Objectives: Specific Objective 1 (SO1): "To develop a sustainable, market oriented, competitive and prosperous agro-forestry system in order to increase employment and income in rural areas" and Specific Objective 2 (SO2): "To implement a capacity building and labour-based programme to rehabilitate and maintain rural roads in order to improve access to the agro-forestry areas, employment and economic opportunities for local population" This Project Document describes the PSAF Specific Objective 2 (PSAF SO2), "to implement a capacity building and labour-based programme to rehabilitate and maintain rural roads in order to improve access to agro forestry areas, employment and economic opportunities for local population" the component that will be implemented by the ILO, the "Enhancing Rural Access Agro-Forestry Project" (‘ERA Agro-Forestry’).

Project symbol

TLS/16/02/EUR

Admin unit

CO-Jakarta

Start date

01/06/2017

End date

31/10/2021

Total allocation

922731

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

922731

Development Partners

Delegation of the European Union to Timor-Leste

Country/Countries

Timor-Leste

Outcomes

More and better jobs for inclusive growth and improved youth employment prospects