The federal government’s five-year, $500 million AgriFlexibility Fund is now accepting project proposals from provincial governments and the ag industry.
AgriFlexibility, which was announced in the federal government’s 2009 budget and runs until March 31, 2014, is meant to support measures developed to:
- reduce costs of production and improve environmental sustainability for the sector;
- promote value-chain innovation and sectoral adaptation; and
- respond to emerging opportunities and market challenges for the sector.
Proposals could, for example, seek to expand adoption of management practices and technologies that result in “lasting reduction” of costs of production, such as reducing the usage of agricultural inputs or improving environmental performance.
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Project proposals could also look to “enhance integration of the value chain,” bringing added value to producers for products. The funding could also go to help develop new value-added products that create growth markets for primary agriculture, the government said.
Proposals could also go to maintain, expand or recapture markets for Canadian foods or products or address “emerging opportunities or challenges” by way of initiatives in, say, traceability, biosecurity, assurance systems or consumer education.
Approved initiatives under AgriFlexibility will either be one-time investments for a specific purpose, or multi-year initiatives, delivered and administered similar to a stand-alone program, the government said.
Both approaches may be funded by one of three methods: solely federally funded; cost-shared at a 60:40 ratio with participating provinces or territories; or cost-shared with sector groups, either in partnership with the federal government, or jointly with the federal government and one or more provinces or territories on a 60:40 basis.
Depending on the funding arrangement, applicants can either apply directly to AAFC to deliver a project or initiative, or apply to AAFC to receive funds to provide support to the intended target.
All proposals, no matter which method is used, are submitted to the national AgriFlexibility administration for assessment, the government said in a release Monday.
