AgriCommunication plan to seek farmer-consumer dialogue

The federal government has put up new funding toward improving consumers’ awareness of the “strengths” of Canada’s ag sector — and to improve farmer awareness of what those consumers want and expect.

Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau on Thursday announced an $8 million, three-year funding envelope for the first of two streams of what’s now called the AgriCommunication Initiative, to run through to the end of March 2024.

That first stream opened to applications effective Thursday and an applicant guide is available online.

The first stream is to bring “non-repayable” funding to projects meant to help Canadians better understand how their food is produced and “projects that promote consumer awareness of the strengths of Canada’s agriculture sector.”

Funded projects under the first stream “will also help enhance Canadians’ trust in sustainability, animal care, and efforts to reduce food waste,” the government said.

Projects done by agricultural fairs and exhibitions, which conduct “broad agriculture awareness activities in helping strengthen public trust about the origin of the food they eat and how it is produced,” are among the expected beneficiaries under the first AgriCommunication stream.

Not-for-profit associations and Indigenous groups are also eligible, the government said. Individuals, academic institutions, commodity organizations and for-profit organizations aren’t eligible.

“Regional or local” organizations may be considered for funding “if they can demonstrate the ability to deliver a project that is sector-wide and national in scope,” the government said, noting “support from national organizations may be required where relevant.”

Regional projects may also be considered, if a national organization doesn’t exist, the government said.

The program’s first stream will also back “communications and awareness activities” starting in spring 2022, “to highlight the sector’s efforts to adopt sustainable and environmentally friendly practices and technologies.”

Funded projects can generally expect cost-shared support, with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada covering 70 per cent to the recipient’s 30 per cent. A “more favourable” 85:15 cost-share arrangement may be applied on projects from “underrepresented groups within the agricultural sector.”

Government funding — including local, municipal and/or provincial funding as well as program funding — shouldn’t typically exceed 85 per cent of a funded project’s costs.

The government said Thursday it will take applications for the program on an “ongoing basis” from now until Sept. 30, 2023, or until otherwise announced, or until funding has been “fully committed.”

That said, the government added, applicants “who can complete activities before March 31, 2022 should contact the program immediately to discuss their application.”

Full details aren’t yet available on the AgriCommunication Initiative’s second stream, which will focus on “increasing the sector’s understanding of consumer preferences and expectations.”

More information on what can be funded in the second stream is expected to be made known “in the coming months.”

“Consumers have a growing interest in learning more about where homegrown agricultural products come from and how they’re made,” Bibeau said Thursday in the government’s release.

“This initiative will develop more connections between the agriculture and agri-food industry and Canadians, which will increase appreciation and pride in our farmers and food businesses.”

Reciprocal awareness between Canada’s consumers and ag sector was a major plank in the “Guelph Statement,” which Canada’s federal and provincial ag ministers drafted at their meeting last month as a guidance document for the 2023-to-2028 ag policy funding framework.

Under the Guelph Statement’s “resiliency and public trust” category of priorities and focus areas, the ministers called for “fostering awareness of sector commitment to the sustainable production of safe, high-quality food and building public trust while increasing sector awareness of the expectations of consumers.”

Noting the funding component for ag fairs, the Canadian Association of Fairs and Exhibitions said Thursday it’s “proud that we are seeing the benefits of our government relations efforts.”

The association, in the lead-up to September’s federal election, had pointed to a “lack of recognition for fair and exhibition organizations in the federal government” — that is, outside of the COVID-19 pandemic.

CAFE at the time urged federal candidates to promise “clear access to a federal department in order to create and access ongoing funding programs.” — Glacier FarmMedia Network