The North American Agricultural Advisory Network (NAAAN) Meeting of the Steering Committee and Senior Staff: Highlights and Summary
December 2020
Meeting Attendance
The first meeting of The North American Agricultural Advisory Network (NAAAN) was held December 8, 2020. The meeting was Chaired by Tony Frank, Chancellor of the Colorado State University System as host institution for the NAAAN Secretariat. Special guests included Carl Erik Schou Larsen, Executive Director of the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS); Former Secretary of Agriculture for the U.S. Tom Vilsack[1] who serves as President and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council and Strategic Advisor to the Chancellor at CSU for the new Spur Campus in Denver, Colorado; and Kristin Kirkpatrick, Executive Director of Together We Grow and a member of the CSU System Spur Team.
In attendance were NAAAN Steering Committee Members[2] and Senior Staff from each country:
Canada
Karen Churchill*, CEO of Ag-West Bio
David Gray*, Dean of Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia and Chair of the International Agriculture Section (IAS) for APLU Board on Agriculture Assembly
Amy Antonini, Trade Policy Analyst, Agriculture and AgriFood Canada
Wallace Ip, Vice-counsel and Trade Commissioner (Agriculture), Consulate General of Canada in Denver, Colorado
Mexico
Carlos Vazquez Ochoa*, Minister-Counselor, Agricultural Office, Embassy of Mexico to the United States
Lourdes Cruz Trinidad*, General Coordinator of International Affairs, Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mexico City
Juan Bernardo Orozco Sanchez, Director of Economic Studies in the Agricultural Sector, Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mexico City
Luis Martinez Senties, Counselor of Agricultural Affairs, Embassy of Mexico to the United States
Additional Team Members attending as observers:
Salvador Fernandez, Rural Development Coordinator, Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mexico City
Sol Ortiz, Director General, Climate Change for the Agriculture Sector, Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mexico City
Brenda Martinez, Agricultural Advisor, Embassy of Mexico to the United States
The United States
Tom Vilsack, Former Secretary of Agriculture, President and CEO of the U.S. Dairy Export Council and Strategic Advisor, CSU System
Cathie Woteki*, Professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition Iowa State and visiting Distinguished Institute Professor, Biocomplexity Institute, University of Virginia
Doug Steele*, Vice President Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources, APLU
David Nielson, Senior Advisor to the NAAAN, CSU System
Kerri Wright Platais, Special Advisor to the Chancellor, International Agriculture, CSU Spur Campus
Observer:
Doug Maguire, Policy Director, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Washington, D.C.
Meeting Objectives
- Provide an opportunity for the Steering Committee and Senior Staff from Canada, Mexico and the United States to meet.
- Provide an overview of the unique opportunity that the formulation of the NAAAN offers for North America.
- Review the role NAAAN will play in GFRAS (Special Guest Carl Larsen, Executive Director, GFRAS).
- Discuss collaboration and engagement across the three countries in the context of the NAAAN’s thematic focus areas 1) Biosecurity/Biodefense, 2) Climate Change and 3) Youth and Career Empowerment. (Special Guests Former Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack and current Strategic Advisor to the Chancellor of Colorado State University System, and Kristin Kirkpatrick, Executive Director of Together We Grow).
- Review the Discussion Document distributed prior to the meeting. Discuss priorities for initial actions and workstreams. (Options provided in the Discussion Document).
- Discuss preferred modes of operation for the NAAAN from country and regional perspectives, including Working Group formulation.
Highlights from the Meeting
The two-hour meeting set the stage for discussion and formulation for the NAAAN’s programmatic opportunities. Meeting during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the disruption it has caused across the world during 2020, was of primary concern. It was noted the NAAAN formulation came at a time for North America when there is a need for closer cooperation and collaboration in agriculture, and a desire to work together in new and innovative ways. Speakers referred to an opportunity to address the “last mile” of food security by connecting farmers and extensionists through science, innovation and by generating increased economic growth for North American farming families and communities.
Initial conversation included the role of the NAAAN vis-a-vis modalities and opportunities for engagement with the GFRAS global community. In addition to having a Board position on GFRAS, the NAAAN will participate in communities of practice (which are decentralized) and provide new ways to interact with the larger global rural advisory community. The existing GFRAS networks and hubs provide an opportunity for North American educators and extensionists to share best practices with, and learn from, professional colleagues around the world. Speakers commented that the key initial thematic areas chosen for NAAAN held promise and were particularly relevant with regard to the emerging importance of One Health (and the interface of food safety and food production), along with issues and production practices related to climate change. The group acknowledged the increased role agriculture will play in greenhouse gas production and net zero carbon sequestration in the years ahead. Placing food and agriculture at the forefront of solving the major problems we face globally (namely population growth, climate change and access to water resources) is a welcome role and appropriate for the convening efforts of the NAAAN. An improved use of new technologies in advisory services and access to these technologies and their applications was also discussed. This is an area where more work is needed across the three countries and where combined efforts in access to education and technologies is welcome.
It was emphasized that the NAAAN is designed to facilitate collaboration and learning between existing programs and organizations in the three North American Countries and to provide a platform to link shared priorities and activities across knowledge development and management, networking and policy advocacy. Partnership between NAAAN and existing institutions, and building upon their respective achievements, will be the modus operandi. The role of higher education institutions in supporting agricultural advisory services is an essential element in the NAAAN agenda, and in this regard, a strong partnership with the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities has already been established. The Canadian colleagues referred to the Youth Council initiated by Minister Bibeau as a way to bring bright new leaders into the conversation of food production and future careers – and listed as an example to study and learn from with best practices to scale in other countries.
During the meeting, and in review of the draft discussion document, the group emphasized and embraced the need for an initial mapping exercise to characterize training, education, and extension efforts, and perceived gaps that exist in these programs for the three countries. In order to do this, joint funding will be sought to perform an initial mapping exercise and a draft concept note drawn up by a NAAAN working group. It was suggested that the findings of a mapping exercise will yield rich data sets that could then be made available publicly (on a shared website). It was also suggested that a journal article follow the study to help capture findings and next steps. The group acknowledged this could be an enormous task (across the three countries) and will require close collaboration and participation of several groups, with inputs and oversight by the Steering Committee members and Senior Staff. When completed the study will serve as a great contribution and starting point for shared information in order to tackle some of the larger issues and challenges from both a country and regional perspective.
The group embraced the idea of using the mapping exercise as one of the first initiatives undertaken by the NAAAN in order to understand synergies, identify “gaps” and calculate differences in approaches to agricultural extension across the three countries. The desire to leverage the ecosystem of higher education institutions and their investment in the communities they serve is important. The group preferred to start with smaller, pilot projects before moving to scale. It was agreed that any NAAAN attention to training would be guided by the findings of the mapping exercise – and it was also agreed that any NAAAN activities in the area of training would avoid overlap with programs and efforts already underway by other groups, for example 4H or FFA, vocational training institutions, and agricultural universities.
Discussion was given to eventually formulate working groups to guide and support implementation of priority elements of the NAAAN work program. Working groups will help to initiate activity in each of the three thematic areas presented in the Discussion Document on the role of extension and rural advisory services in 1) Biodefense and Management of Natural Disaster; 2) Climate Change with particular emphasis on water management and soil health; and 3) Youth and Career Empowerment, building on shared programming opportunities with Together We Grow and the Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD) within the GFRAS community.
As a platform seeking to connect communities of practice in agricultural advisory services across the three countries, initial activities of the Secretariat will include exploring synergies between NAAAN and groups such as the e-Extension Foundation and the Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) within the U.S., and explore information sharing and translation of their materials for use in Canada, Mexico and with other GFRAS networks. This is an area where GFRAS excels through the work of the New Extensionist Learning Kits (NELK) and where the NAAAN could contribute new information and training materials.
Wrap Up and Next Steps
- The Secretariat will work with Senior Staff from each country in developing Working Groups and in formulation of a draft Concept Note for the NAAAN Mapping Study. This group will in turn work with the Steering Committee members from their respective countries and stakeholders.
- Once the Concept Note for the Mapping Study is finalized, funding will be sought.
- In parallel the Secretariat will work to engage with extension groups in all three countries to explore synergies and partnerships, and to facilitate awareness of, and engagement with, GFRAS.
- Conversations and follow-up will begin with Together We Grow to assess how best to establish prototypes and pilots for internships and assess what efforts are possible in Canada and Mexico and with private and public sector partners.
- Advice will be sought from the Steering Committee members affiliated with the APLU to determine how best to create synergies and complementarity with its international committees.
- Membership of the NAAAN will not be a formalized process for the time being, but rather a decentralized affiliation based on project activities.
- Staff will work together to inform the Honorable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food (Canada) and Secretary Victor Villalobos, Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development (Mexico) who serve as ex officio members of a proposed panel discussion on the NAAAN during the World Food Prize in October, 2021 (in person or virtual).
- The next Steering Committee and Senior Staff Meeting will be held in late Spring of 2021. Date TBD and discussion of when the ex officio members join will be determined at a later date and in consultation with Senior Staff members.
- In closing, a desire to work together in new ways to address agricultural challenges and opportunities across North America was expressed among the members, with great hope envisioned for meaningful programmatic opportunities in the years ahead.
[1] Following the NAAAN meeting on December 8th, it was announced that Secretary Vilsack was nominated by President Elect Biden to serve once again as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.
[2] The NAAAN Steering Committee members are designated with an asterisk (*).
