Timor-Leste (East Timor) is a small country situated at the Eastern end of the Indonesian
archipelago and to the north of Australia lying between 8.1 and 9.5o
S and 125.0 and
127.3o
E (Figure 1). It is approximately 1500 square kilometres in area and occupies the
Eastern half of the island of Timor plus the small enclave of Oeccussi on the north coast of
W. Timor. Once a colony of Portugal for over 400 years and under Indonesian rule for 24
years, Timor-Leste is now a democratic republic after 85% of its population voted for
independence in a referendum during 1999. In 2010 the country’s population was 1.07
million (DNE 2010) with the 2010 national census classifying 70.4% as living in rural areas.
Subsistence agriculture is the main activity of the rural population as it is for many of the
residents in district towns. The low level of cash income and food insecurity suffered by the
farmers is reflected in the poor level of the nation’s health, education and living standards
with Timor-Leste ranking 147 out of 187 countries in the UNDP 2011 Human Development
Index (UNDP, 2011). Food insecurity is a national problem but is particularly prevalent in
the rural areas where agricultural resources are poor and unstable. Farming area is not a
constraint with only 30% of arable land being used for cropping or in combination with
animal grazing (GOTL, 2007). However, there are labour constraints, particularly during
weeding which limit the area that can be cultivated by individual farm families. In the
uplands, farmers generally employ slash and burn techniques, dibbling upland crops directly
into uncultivated soil. Much of the soil is infertile; fertilizers are rarely used; traditional crop
varieties are particularly low yielding and other productivity improving technologies lacking;
infrastructure is underdeveloped making markets inaccessible; finance is unavailable and
research and extension facilities are in the developmental stage. Low productivity from the
farming community is exacerbated by the highly variable rainfall pattern resulting in food
insecurity being a major issue in Timor-Leste. This paper describes some of these issues in
more detail with particular emphasis on a program to improve food security through the
increased productivity of food crops.