From Listening to Lasting Impact: How a Peanut Farmer’s Story Shaped our Recommendation in Timor-Leste
“We’re obviously not rich, but now we can send our kids to school, participate fully in cultural events, and we have enough to feed ourselves and our families”
These were the words of a peanut farmer in Timor Leste’s Baucau municipality, who was recounting the profound impact a particular livelihood intervention had on him and his community. We travelled a full day to meet him after repeated tips to “go see this one.”
In Timor-Leste, nearly half the population faces food insecurity and malnutrition. Worse, half the children are chronically malnourished, or stunted, hindering their growth, cognition and potential. The World Food Programme asked us to identify the most cost-effective ways to address these challenges.
47%
of children in Timor Leste are chronically malnourished
We began with the people, not the spreadsheets
Interviewing more than 100 stakeholders across the agricultural value chain: farmers, processors, market traders, local leaders, government officials, and development partners.
These conversations revealed a simple truth: agriculture is a system. If one part fails, investments elsewhere have limited effect. But when all parts work together…
They can transform lives and livelihoods.
Guided by these insights we shifted to a systems-level economic analysis, mapping interlinkages and modelling dependencies. We designed a package of nine interventions - from upstream agricultural R&D to post-harvest storage, market linkages, and nutrition programs - ensuring every part of the system could “hum” in unison.
$1 billion
in benefits
We presented the findings to the Vice Prime Minister, who endorsed the recommendations and adopted the report into official government policy.
This project shows how deep, qualitative listening strengthens quantitative analysis - delivering not just numbers, but solutions rooted in the realities of those most affected.
