Timor-Leste
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Photo: Mercy Corps
Our strategy
Address the root causes of poverty by increasing food production, building local economies and increasing access to energy and financial services for rural communities most vulnerable to climate change and other shocks.
The context
Indonesia’s occupation of Timor-Leste from 1975 to 1998 was marked by violence (100,000 lives were lost) and resulted in large-scale destruction of economic infrastructure. Since gaining independence in 2002, this island nation continues to struggle with extreme poverty and slow rebuilding efforts.
Eighty percent of the population relies on agriculture for food and income but most families in rural areas can only produce enough food to last for eight months. As a result, levels of chronic malnutrition are extremely high, particularly among children under five. Timor-Leste is also plagued by energy poverty, with only a small percentage of the population having access to electricity.
Our work
- Agriculture & Food: Building resilience of farmers through training and improved irrigation and storage systems that boost their yields
- Environment: Promoting clean energy use in rural villages through the introduction of affordable solar lighting and fuel-efficient cookstoves
- Economic opportunity: Connecting global producers, in-country importers, and village market owners to grow the solar business sector and create jobs
All stories about Timor-Leste
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Timor-Leste: Solar energy lights the way for rural families May 8, 2013
Celeste da Silva and her husband Clementino grinned broadly as they held up the recent addition to their modest tin-roofed home. The source of their contentment? A simple solar light.
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Central African Republic, Timor-Leste: Employees engaged to drive strategic community investment February 21, 2013
Western Union's new Innovation Awards ask employees to choose which Mercy Corps initiatives to invest in. The first two awards are funding economic development programmes in the Central African Republic and Timor-Leste.
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Timor-Leste: Fighting hunger in a neglected nation February 15, 2013
In one of the world's newest countries, where over one-third of the population regularly experiences food shortages, we're helping 4,500 subsistence farmers build the foundation for sustainable change.
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Timor-Leste: Sharing the responsibility to grow more food April 19, 2011
After a bumpy six hour drive from our head office in Dili, we finally reached our first destination on my recent field visit in Timor-Leste: the village of Maununu.
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Timor-Leste: Farmers in Timor-Leste store up for a better future March 22, 2011
The road to Ainaro District from Dili —the capital city of Timor-Leste, one of the world's newest countries — has never been as bad as it is now, at least in my experience.
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Timor-Leste: Small disasters with no voice are important too November 2, 2010
In Timor-Leste (East Timor), this year’s weather has caused more serious problems than ever encountered in living memory and beyond. The dry season was meant to start last March.
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Timor-Leste: Photo of the Day: Timor-Leste May 13, 2010
A verdant landscape in rural Timor-Leste (East Timor) with traditional buildings, horses and mountains.