Policy analyst Bob Seguin thinks there are key questions not being asked in discussions about the shape of the next generation of farm programs kicking in by 2013.
The executive director of the Guelph, Ont.-based George Morris Centre argues that for decades, Canadian agriculture policy and programs have been developed without a clear goal in mind or a way to assess their success.
“It is hard to know if you are achieving something if you don’t start out by setting the goals you want to achieve and some process to assess your success,” Seguin said July 28.
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“How do you answer the question, ‘is this doing what it was intended to do,’ if you have never really articulated what it is intended to do?”
In an analysis published by the George Morris Centre, Seguin argued both governments and the industry have failed to put farm support programs over the years into a broader context of why it was being done and whether the many billions of dollars in support poured into agriculture over the years made a positive difference.
“Over these past 30 years, Canadian governments (federal, provincial, territorial) have committed and spent sizable public funds in the agrifood sector,” he wrote. “The implicit promise is sustained prosperity for the entire sector.
“A major challenge inherent in developing a successor policy framework (to Growing Forward) is to articulate the desired results for that policy,” Seguin wrote. “This in turn must lead to substantive analysis to determine and approve the measures of performance – clear, precise, transparent and practical measures – which will indicate progress toward and achievement of the defined results.”
Seguin said policy discussion by public or private sectors should include an analysis of how it will improve or impede competitiveness, innovation or sector financial health. It should also include an analysis of comparable measures in other countries.
He estimated that over the past five years, support for the industry has been as much as $20 billion.
In the past, there have been occasional examinations of agricultural spending by the federal auditor-general to determine value for money but Seguin said periodic examinations are not a substitute for building goals and success measurement into policy-making.
He also acknowledged that the Canadian Federation of Agriculture is leading an attempt to develop a National Food Strategy that the CFA says could be the underpinning of future policy-making.
Still, Seguin argued something deeper is needed.
A good start would be to examine “without some of the rhetoric” the state of the agriculture sector across regions and commodities.
“It is time to examine why investment in this sector is a good opportunity and under what conditions and what it would mean for future farmers, entrepreneurs, employees and overall talent to allow this sector to succeed and prosper,” he wrote.
