There’s still $7 million in project funding available to BC’s agriculture and agri-food industry through the Agri-Food Futures Fund (AFFF)! Often the unsung hero of IAF’s program portfolio, the AFFF initiative has nonetheless proven profoundly instrumental in advancing a diversity of sectors throughout the province.

Established with federal-provincial funding in 2001, AFFF has contributed more than $21 million to hundreds of projects, since inception, in areas like agri-tourism, environmental management, Aboriginal agriculture, food and beverage processing, agroforestry, emerging sectors and more.

“By aiding in the expansion of both established and emerging agricultural and food processing sectors, the AFFF initiative has fulfilled a vital role in strengthening BC agriculture as a whole,” says IAF chair, Ken Bates, adding that AFFF also has a potentially significant part to play as the industry pursues the goal of $15 billion in revenue per year by 2020.

It was AFFF funding that supported the development of a business model that provides Aboriginal entrepreneurs with a template for launching their own line of value-added products under distinctly native-themed branding. Using the template, Aboriginal communities can create a business plan that reflects their individual situations in terms of regional natural resources, land and human resource availability, potential economic development and more.

The Islands Agriculture Show owes its origin to the pilot project funded through the Islands Agri-Food Initiative under AFFF. After a successful first run, the show evolved into an annual event and remains the only agricultural trade show serving the farm and food community on Vancouver Island, Coast and Gulf Islands.

Across the pond, farmers and environmentalists in the Lower Mainland are receiving project support to explore the cultivation of ecosystem services on farmland that will help protect salmon habitat, maintain clean water, provide overwintering habitat for migratory birds and more.

While there are many sectors and projects that receive funding through this initiative, there are certain areas of priority under AFFF, including emerging sectors, food safety and quality, and food and beverage processing.

Emerging sectors are characterized by a potential to introduce new production systems, products, markets, standards, processes, management practices or technologies into the industry. Eligible projects usually address the gaps in applied scientific knowledge, technology adaptation and transfer, pre-commercialization exploration, skills, business development and collaboration with potential partners in order to seize new business opportunities.

Applications are open to all emerging sectors in the agriculture, agri-food and agri-based products industries, including:

• Small scale/lot agriculture
• Natural health products
• Aboriginal agriculture
• Agri-tourism and direct farm marketing
• Bio-products
• New environmental management practices
• Apiculture
• Small-scale food processing
• Women
• Mushrooms

Funding is also available for small-to-large scale food and beverage processors for projects that align with one or more of the following strategic priorities under the AFFF Food and Beverage Processing Initiative:

• Enhance the sectoral competitive position of BC food and beverage processors
• Build BC’s reputation as a leader in health and lifestyle-oriented products
• Build business relationships and collaboration with value-chain partners
• Enhance communications and coordination among industry stakeholders

All applications should demonstrate a broad benefit to BC’s agriculture and/or agrifoods sectors. AFFF is a cost-shared program, with both financial and in-kind project contributions considered for matching funding.

Talk to us today to learn more about program eligibility and requirements!

Funding for the Agri-Food Futures Fund is provided by the governments of Canada and British Columbia. (A0677ES, AF002-I0497, AF021-006AE-SP)

In the world of supply and demand, it makes good business sense to know what your customers want. That’s why BC’s food processors recently completed a survey to help their industry understand the changing needs of grocery retailers.

Women, millennials (under 30) and seniors were identified by retailers as their top three demographics, with Chinese, South Asian, Filipino and Korean leading the ethnic categories.

As for targeted product categories, local foods was far and away the leading priority for BC retailers, with gluten free, natural health products, organic and private label also scoring high.

“The survey provides some insight for BC processors on the areas of emphasis for retailers,” says James Donaldson, CEO of the BC Food Processors Association. “The desire for offering foods sourced locally has long been a growing trend with both retailers and consumers, but the survey also identifies some category and demographic priorities that present areas of opportunity for the industry.”

Somewhat surprisingly, given the prominence in media coverage these days, GMO free foods did not rank as a high priority by retailers.

In addition to questions about latest consumer trends, the industry also learned that more than half of the retailers have procurement and hiring policies in place. In a second survey, they sought to understand the hiring strategies of BC food processors.

The project also included the creation of a searchable online database of food, beverage and natural health product processors in BC that will help retailers source suppliers and products. A link to the online directory is available on the association’s website: www.bcfpa.ca

Funding: $34,205 through the Agri-Food Futures Fund, Food and Beverage Processing Initiative. (AF014-136)

In the spring of 2013, a new permanent farmers’ market will become a destination for locals and tourists in downtown Victoria, thanks in part to a project partially funded through IAF.

Portable tents and tables are the standard structures at most farmers’ markets in BC these days.  Occupying a space on a permanent basis, like Granville Island Public Market in Vancouver, carries greater financial risk.

Unfortunately, several attempts at establishing permanent farmers’ markets in BC have failed in recent years.

“We didn’t want our permanent market to become a ghost town,” states Philipe Lucas, chair of the Victoria Downtown Public Market Society (VDPMS).  “We needed to determine how to grow our market in a feasible way.”

The Victoria Public Market Needs Assessment and Governance Model project identified key success factors of thriving permanent markets in nine North American cities.

The project also included a thorough market analysis and a financial plan for five years.

A local developer expressed interest in including a market in its mixed residential-retail development on the site of the former Hudson’s Bay in downtown Victoria.

This site became an important case study in the project.

“Because the VDPMS has signed an agreement with Townline Properties to manage the market at the Hudson, we will be able to provide competitive rates for our vendors,” declares Lucas. “This is a win-win partnership.”

Funding: $10,000 provided through the Agri-Food Futures Fund. (AF002-I0503)

BC blueberry growers lose millions of dollars each year to starling damage. These prolific and invasive birds descend on berry fields to eat the ripe fruit, causing significant damage.

Noisemakers, nets, trapping, and chemicals are tools in the arsenal of the blueberry grower for starling control, but often these solutions are incomplete, costly, and controversial.

Karen Steensma, biologist, farmer, and professor at Trinity Western University, is working with farmers in BC and Washington State to re-build kestrel populations in agricultural areas, and assess their potential as a natural deterrent to starlings and other pest birds.

Kestrels are the smallest falcon in North America, and the only native birds of prey that will adopt a nest box. They inhabit open fields or forest edges, and feed on insects, rodents and small birds. The small raptors are fiercely territorial, and have shown promise as effective competitors against starlings in some US cherry orchards. Once kestrels are established, a single nesting pair may protect up to 10 acres.

The project started by putting up over 100 nest boxes adjoining blueberry fields in the Fraser Valley, and Whatcom and Skagit Counties, but it was clear that just providing boxes wasn’t enough.

“In working with biologists, falconers, farmers and scientists on both sides of border, we found that the background populations in this region were so low that it would take years before we could get a good level of occupancy,” says Steensma.

To start building the population up, they imported young orphaned birds from other parts of the US. Steensma and her team have released 21 kestrels south of the border since 2008, and now the birds are starting to use nest boxes in those areas.

The study has also mapped land-use patterns for the region to determine where kestrels are most likely to succeed.

“The birds need habitat to nest, as well as ways to make a living – to obtain food,” says Steensma. “The young kestrels practice on flies, bees and dragonflies. That’s part of their diet. Having small rodents in the grass and the insects present, all of that makes it likely they will nest.”

Funding: $8,000 through the Agri-Food Futures Fund. (AEWF 09-023)

In 2008, a small wild plant nursery was established by the Lillooet Naturalist Society and the Cayoose Creek Indian Band to provide native plants for a restoration project along the Fraser River.

More than 7,000 plants later, the nursery has bloomed into a potentially significant commercial and cultural enterprise for the Cayoose Creek band.

With help from IAF, that potential is being explored through the preparation of an economic business and marketing plan for commercializing the existing nursery and restoration services, and evaluating the potential of value-added products for market.

Along the way, the project has not only engaged elders and youth through training and mentoring activities, but is providing employment to the local community, encouraging healthy eating habits and fostering economic growth…all while restoring traditional lands to original ecosystems for the benefit of wildlife.

As if that weren’t enough, the nursery was also selected for the BC Landscape and Nursery Association’s 2011 Stewardship Award.

Cayoose Creek band member Karen Edwards has been working at the restoration site and nursery for the past four years, and is excited to see the benefits unfolding for her community.

“We’re providing an accessible site where all generations can come together and learn,” Edwards says. “This is helping to keep our traditions alive.”

While the work has primarily been focused in the St’at’imc traditional territories, members from surrounding bands and interested Lillooet community members are able to participate in workshops and volunteer activities. It is also anticipated that many of the skills and products developed could be adapted to similar landscapes within the Thompson/Okanagan region.

Funding: up to $62,912 provided through the Agri-Food Futures Fund, Emerging Sectors Initiative. (A0647 ES)