Sustainability has long been the development sector’s unfinished business. Too many programs deliver impressive results in the moment, only to watch momentum fade once external support steps back. The real breakthrough comes when change is not delivered by donors or managing contractors but enabled through the people and institutions who will carry it forward. That is the heart of locally led systems change: focusing on facilitating change, shifting from implementing activities ourselves to strengthening the national systems, standards, and actors who can make progress more sustainable.

To’os ba Moris Di’ak (TOMAK) or Farming for Prosperity – a 10-year agriculture and nutrition program funded by the Australian Government and delivered by ASI in Timor-Leste – shows what this looks like in practice. By embedding tools, approaches, and reforms inside government systems – and working meaningfully through local institutions, with civil society, farmers and market actors rather than around them – the program helped institutionalise change that can outlast any single investment. It is a reminder that sustainability is not a final step at program closure, but a way of working from the start: building ownership, reinforcing capability, and ensuring that the drivers of change sit firmly in Timorese hands. 

What we did: Helping Timorese institutions take the lead 

Rather than building parallel structures or delivering services directly, the program focused on embedding tools, standards, and approaches inside the national systems that would ultimately carry them forward. This meant working with and through key partners including the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries, and Forestry (MALFF) – including the National Extension Department and National Directorate of Veterinary Services (DNV), as well as the Ministry of Health (MoH), National Institute of Public Health, Timor-Leste (INSP‑TL), National University of Timor-Leste (UNTL), the Secretary of State for Equality (SSE), local civil society organisations, and private sector partners – supporting them to co-design, lead, refine, and eventually own the reforms that mattered most. 

At the program-level, TOMAK was driven by a predominantly Timorese team (average 88% national staff). This mattered enormously. Having national staff at the heart of delivery built the trust, cultural fluency, and long-term relationships that both drive and sustain program achievements. TOMAK was not viewed as an outside project, but as a collaborative effort grounded in shared knowledge, experience and mutual respect. Over ten years, TOMAK created a strong internal capability base: Timorese staff became technical leaders, facilitators, and problem solvers who could work confidently with government, civil society, and private sector counterparts. These relationships endured beyond individual activities, helping embed new practices inside institutions and ensuring that knowledge, confidence, and ownership stay within Timor‑Leste and contribute in new ways to the country’s development beyond TOMAK’s success.  

From seeds to harvest 

Over time, this approach produced tangible shifts in how agriculture and nutrition services are delivered in TOMAK’s target regions of Baucau, Bobonaro and Viqueque. Government agencies began independently managing core functions that have been introduced or strengthened through TOMAK. The MALFF now maintains the national Agricultural Extension Worker (AEW) database and uses the updated, GEDSI-mainstreamed extension manual in municipal planning, with nationwide training launched in 2026.  

The Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture (NSA) curriculum was formally integrated into both agriculture and health training systems, with digitised NSA follow‑up and Follow Up After Training tools now budgeted for and managed by INSP‑TL. MoH staff routinely apply NSA practices in their consultations, reaching more than 10,000 clients post-training. The DNV leads the full cycle of poultry producer support – from mapping and training to vaccination and monitoring – with Newcastle Disease vaccination coverage among mapped producers rising from just 7 percent in 2017 to 96 per cent in 2025, resulting in better disease prevention, fewer losses and more resilient farming businesses. These are not isolated achievements; they reflect systems that have internalised new ways of working and contribute to a functioning food system. 

Supported by stronger national systems, new methods of have also been adopted by the farmers growing the food – the very heart of TOMAK’s work. Dedicated training on Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA), peer support and learning through Savings and Loans Groups (SLGs) and Farmer Field Schools and addressing gaps in the food system have yielded incredible results among target farming groups. Annual surveys indicate that TOMAK farmers continued to adopt GAP and CSA practices and demonstrated strengthened agribusiness behaviours and household decision‑making well beyond the training period, showing practice changes had become routine – because they genuinely improved the lives and livelihoods of farmers.  

Permanent delivery platforms have also taken root. Five government‑owned CSA centres now operate with recurrent budgets and staff, delivering training on water efficient production, soil management, diversification, and hydroponics. National government departments (Secretary of State for Equality) through to local partners such as Ra’es Hadomi Timor Oan – the National Disabled People’s Organisation – deliver Household Decision-Making, Disability Inclusion, and Hydroponics training independently. The UNTL manages field placements and agripreneurship pathways without TOMAK’s support, while the UNTL partnership with private sector partner – Dili Development Company (established through TOMAK, a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2026) provides an established platform for ongoing applied research and student training.

Market systems strengthened under TOMAK continue to function and expand. Private Agricultural Service Providers (PASPs) – many of whom are youth – have diversified their client bases, with 97 per cent reporting that their business supports household needs. Market partnerships grew from 27 actors in Phase 1 to 85 by program end, reinforcing demand for locally grown, quality produce. Meanwhile, SLGs remain one of the strongest indicators of social sustainability and inclusion: 96 percent of Phase 2 groups remain active, women hold 72 per cent of leadership roles, and members report high confidence in decision‑making and collective problem‑solving.

TOMAK’s sustainability gains were the result of deliberate choices made early in implementation. Tools and manuals were co‑designed with government counterparts to ensure alignment with national policy and sector priorities. New systems were piloted and improved inside existing structures – not in parallel – so that government staff could test, adapt, and eventually internalise them. Training‑of‑Trainers models ensured that knowledge could be shared more broadly internally without external facilitation. Partnerships with the private sector, such as the collaboration with DDC and the Jape Kong Su Foundation to establish the Rai‑Hun Agriculture Training Centre, were built from the outset to become permanent, locally owned platforms for CSA training. Coordination mechanisms were revived and institutionalised, with the highly successful MALFF‑led harmonisation meetings and development partner mapping now used for ministerial briefings, parliamentary updates, and contributing to the Timorese Government’s ASEAN and World Trade Organisation processes.

Why it matters:

• Sustainability becomes a way of working, not an end‑of‑project activity. TOMAK’s approach shows that when systems strengthening starts early and is embedded deeply, government and local actors can continue delivering long after external support ends.
• Ownership is real, not rhetorical. Government departments and farmers alike are using TOMAK-strengthened tools, technologies and practices because they see value in them and are benefitting – not because a program requires it.
• Local institutions now hold the capability, confidence, and incentives to continue. From CSA Centres to SLGs and PASPs, the whole food system that TOMAK strengthened is functioning independently because it is working better.
• Development partners are now aligning behind government priorities. TOMAK’s harmonisation work reduced duplication, improved coordination, and created a shared evidence base for future investments.
• The foundations for long term food system resilience are in place. Stronger systems, improved nutrition, livestock, and market systems mean better services, more resilient livelihoods, and improved diets – outcomes that will endure beyond TOMAK.