Impact Sessions with Parliamentarians on Ag Research & Innovation
The Agri-food sector is being promoted as the one to back for economic growth and development in Canada. To enable this growth, it is envisaged that new innovations will be required for producing value-added products for trade to a more diversified market. This message has generated quite a bit of interest in both the public and private sector in Canada. The Agricultural Institute of Canada (AIC), for example, designed their annual event to lobby interest among Parliamentarians and other decision makers in Government and industry. The theme - “Economic Impact of Agricultural Research and Innovation” was evident during the symposium & Government Impact Sessions hosted November 5 to 7 in Ottawa, Ontario. IICA being a co-sponsor of the event was privy to the various interactions. The line-up for the symposium was impressive and speakers revealed data and trends worthy of note. A case in point is the attractive return on investment that agricultural research incurs. This has triggered non-traditional players entering that (agri-food) space e.g. Uber, IKEA, Xerox, etc., and has resulted in a more competitive Agri-Food industry. This scenario suggests that a more data-driven approach, connectivity, and customer-centricity can contribute to improved operational efficiencies and agri-food innovations.
Meetings with Parliamentarians were also quite instructive. There was genuine interest by Senators and Members of Parliament in crosslinking the agri-food with other economic sectors, as well as paying attention to the widening labour gap projected with the expansion and diversification of the sector. The IICA Representative in Canada was able to introduce the work of IICA in building capacity for countries in the region to use science for decision making in addition to connecting Canada with strategic partners in Latin America and the Caribbean. The merits of internationalizing research and innovation were clearly understood.
The Agricultural Institute of Canada is a not for profit organization which has a mandate to inter alia influence public policy, disseminate information and be the partner in Canada for related international activities.
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Dr. Audia Barnett