ADVANCING CANADIAN AGRICULTURE AND AGRI-FOOD 

(ACAAF)

ACAAF Application Form

NWT ACAAF Committee

ACAAF Program Description

The ACAAF Program was developed as the successor to the Canadian Adaptation and Rural Development (CARD) II Fund, whose mandate expired March 31, 2004. 

The ACAAF Program will continue the innovative industry-led approach employed under the CARD program, with projects delivered at both the national and regional level.  At the provincial/territorial level, projects will continue to be delivered by 14 regional councils, with membership representative of the agriculture and agri-food value chain, in their respective regions.

The Territorial Farmers Association is the delivery agent in the NWT .

ACAAF Strategic Objective

The strategic objective of the ACAAF Program is to position Canada 's agriculture and agri-food sector at the leading edge to seize new opportunities.  The program will accomplish this objective through increased collaboration, working with the sector and other stakeholders to identify current and emerging issues and acting to address them, thereby advancing the sector and contributing to future agriculture and agri-food policy directions.  

ACAAF programming will complement the Agricultural Policy Framework and advance progress toward its goals.

ACAAF Program Objectives

The ACAAF Program will be guided by the following objectives:

• Expand the sector’s capacity to respond to current and emerging issues
• Position the sector to capture market opportunities
• Actively and continuously engage the sector to contribute to future agriculture and agri-food policy directions
• Integrate sector-led projects tested and piloted under ACAAF into future federal, provincial, or territorial government or industry initiatives

ACAAF Program Principles

Initiatives funded under ACAAF must adhere to the following basic principles on which the program is based:

• Consistent with Government of Canada policy directions, such as sustainable development, innovation and reporting results to Canadians.
• Within the mandate of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada , as defined under the Agriculture and Agri-Food Act.
• Maximize benefits to Canada ’s agriculture and agri-food sector through collaborative efforts.
• Consistent with international trade commitments and minimizing the exposure to countervail.
• Respect the need for equity among regions and stakeholders.    
• Respect those areas that are solely within provincial and territorial jurisdiction.   
• Avoid duplicating, overlapping or replacing federal, provincial and territorial programs and delivery mechanisms.

Program Structure and Description

The ACAAF program is based on a three-pillar approach: 

• Pillar I, “Industry-Led Solutions to Emerging Issues”;
• Pillar II, “Capturing Market Opportunities By Advancing Research Results”; and
• Pillar III, “Sharing Information to Advance the Sector”. 

ACAAF will also initiate “collective outcomes”.  Collective outcome projects are initiatives that fits within the three-pillar approach and aimed at areas of focus on which greater sector collaboration amongst national and regional stakeholders will be encouraged, to maximize sectoral benefits.  These collective outcomes will be a key component of the new program. 

Pillar I – Industry-Led Solutions to Emerging Issues

With the implementation of the Agricultural Policy Framework (APF) in all provinces and territories, there is a recognition that the challenges and opportunities facing the sector will change and evolve over the five-year framework period.  This dynamic environment demands the capacity to quickly identify and direct federal resources toward emerging issues and opportunities.  ACAAF programming can serve as an incubator for projects that hold promise for the future.

  Pillar I, “Industry-Led Solutions to Emerging Issues”, will position Canada ’s agriculture and agri-food sector at the leading edge to seize new opportunities by implementing national, multi-regional and regional projects that test ideas and approaches that:

        i)            Address emerging issues which could set the direction of future policy approaches; or

       ii)            Advance progress toward goals or objectives of a single APF element; or

     iii)            Cut across more than one APF element (Renewal, Environment, Food Safety and Food Quality, and/or Science and Innovation).

Industry-led projects tested under Pillar I could set the direction for future policy approaches by government, in a similar fashion to how CARD II contributed to the development of comprehensive programming under the APF (e.g. Environmental Farm Plans, Food Safety Programming).  This pillar allows the sector to test or pilot approaches and solutions.  As time progresses, there will be a requirement to review projects funded under ACAAF and their results, to identify those that could potentially be the subject of comprehensive programming in the future.

Pillar II – Capturing Market Opportunities by Advancing Research Results

The latest research developments offer many opportunities for the agriculture and agri-food sector.  However, a key challenge is to seize those opportunities by making research more readily transferable into the marketplace to generate economic growth.  

Specifically, the second pillar of ACAAF focuses on helping to create market opportunities within the agriculture and agri-food sector by supporting the transfer of research results generated from governments, industry, and educational institutions.  Ultimately, Pillar II objectives will help position Canada ’s agriculture and agri-food sector at the leading edge of developments in the marketplace. Proposed ACAAF programming complements work under the APF Science and Innovation element in this area, by focusing on improving the transfer of research results through both small and medium-scale initiatives. Pillar II is aimed at:

• Leveraging research results into market/economic opportunities within the Canadian agriculture and agri-food sector;
• Strengthening the capacity of the sector’s stakeholders to commercialize research results; and
• Encouraging business growth and improving international competitiveness through adoption of research results.

Projects under Pillar II could be small or medium–scale with national, multi-regional, and/or provincial/territorial impact.

Pillar III – Sharing Information to Advance the Sector

Pillar III focuses on helping to ensure that the sector is actively and continuously engaged to contribute to future agriculture and agri-food policy directions - a key end outcome for this Program.

Pillar III also focuses on assisting the sector in proactively developing responses based on new information, so that it is able to take advantage of both immediate and emerging opportunities.  These objectives will be achieved through information gathering, analysis and sharing, and projects and programs that would help to facilitate these activities.

Specifically, under Pillar III, ACAAF focuses on supporting projects and activities that strengthen the agriculture and agri-food sector’s ability to participate in the policy dialogue to shape the future of the sector.  The program is aimed at helping to identify new/future policy issues and sectoral needs.

ACAAF supports programming focused on increased information gathering, analysis and sharing that will help the sector advance and take advantage of opportunities (both immediate and emerging).  Timely and effective information dissemination throughout the sector is essential so that new ideas and information on best practices can be communicated widely for the benefit of all and new market opportunities can be realized.

To ensure that the ACAAF program is complementary to any activities being undertaken under existing departmental activities, the focus is on supporting projects that are identified as information needs or “gaps” by the sector, not covered under existing efforts.  The program does not support ongoing normal activities in this area.

Given the increasing interdependencies between the agriculture and agri-food sector and other sectors (e.g. health, environment, and transportation) ACAAF also seeks to broaden the dialogue with these sectors through related projects and programming.