ACFID's Federal Budget Analysis

ACFID’s Federal Budget analysis was revised and reissued to reflect feedback from members, AusAID and information from the Estimates hearing in June 2010. A summary from the analysis is as follows:

The 2010/11 Aid Budget is titled: A Good International Citizen. ACFID welcomes the increase in Australian overseas development assistance (ODA) to $4.349 million, a $530 million increase from the 2009/10 Aid Budget of $3,818.8 million. This is a real increase of 9% (a 14% nominal increase). The $500 million increase meets the key recommendation of ACFID’s pre-budget submission. Meeting the Millennium Development Goals remains the key focus of the aid program.

The ODA program for 2010/11 translates to 0.33% of Gross National Income (GNI) – an increase from 0.31% of GNI in 2009/10. These figures have been calculated using new international accounting standards, which increase Australian GNI by 4%. At the current rate of increase, the Rudd Government is on track to reach its target of 0.5% of GNI by 2015. ACFID has called on the government to announce a timetable for reaching the UN goal of 0.7% of GNI in the longer term.

The 2010/11 Aid Budget has a number of features of relevance including:

• a 17.9% increase in Australian NGO funding through the ANCP;

• further geographical expansion of the program to Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and South Asia;

• new funding for disability-inclusive development of $30.2 million over four years – ACFID welcomes this as a ‘first down-payment’ but calls for accelerated funding in future budgets to implement ‘Development for All’ policy;

• apparent decreased funding to health and HIV/AIDS as a sector by 10.6% after inflation;

• no new climate change initiatives for 2010/11 but $160 million to be spent from previously announced commitments (the value of the four multi-year measures announced is $350.4 million, with another $5 million from the current 2009-10 Contingency Reserve flagged in the press release); and

• microfinance funding doubled to $40 million over two years, as ACFID requested; and

• AusAID restructure announced to plan for upscale of aid program by 2015, which will focus on reforms to operational policy, management and workforce planning. The Aid Budget estimates $211.8 million to AusAID departmental costs, a 52.1% increase.

For the full ACFID analysis please visit: http://www.acfid.asn.au//resources/docs_resources/docs_papers/ACFID%20Budget%20Analysis%20revised%20June%202010.pdf

Thank God! Cassava stems has changed my life.

In February 2008, BRAC started to implement a three year project on multiplication and distribution of resistant cassava mosaic disease varieties. In the Mara region of Tanzania the food produced was insufficient households due to low production of cassava as a result of cassava Mosaic disease. Survey findings revealed that in order to increase production of cassava more effort was needed in the growth of varieties of cassava which are resistant to CMD and CBSD. Thus BRAC and ORAF through Cassava multiplication project embarked on three years contract. Mrs Moshi Erinest mother of seven children explain how cassava multiplication has helped community as well as increased her household income.

Moshi Erinest is a resident of Musoma district in Tarani village and has been working as volunteer community worker (locally known as a farmer motivator) since the project started in 2008. She is one of 28 farmer motivators who received cassava multiplication training and equipment including bicycle from the project. Since then she has been seriously working on multiply cassava resistant varieties including Mkombozi “the serviour” and Kyaka. She received from the project cassava cuttings enough for half an acre plot and slowly expanded her multiplication field so that now she has two acres. She passed on 200 cassava cuttings for free to another farmer to ensure continuation of the project activity as per contract. In this rain season March 2010 she harvested 300 bundles of CMD resistant varieties equivalent to 30,000 cuttings where she received TZS 600,000 (approximately A$475). She said hard work and commitment pay; I have cash TZS 600,000 (approximately A$475) from sales of stems and still enjoying my cassava tubers! She continued to explain that the money she got will be used to buy bedding materials; repair of house and some will be used to cover the cost of sending her children to school.