The federal government has pledged more than $3.1 million for the continued development of a made in Canada sustainability index for agricultural products.
“This funding will improve the National Index on Agri-Food Performance, helping the sector take advantage of market opportunities, and backing up our efforts with concrete data,” said federal ag minister Lawrence MacAulay in a news release today.
The National Index on Agri-Food Performance is a Canadian-made sustainability measurement system under development by a coalition of government and industry groups including agro-chemical companies like Nutrien and BASF, and provincial agriculture departments.
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The index spans measures from water stewardship, soil health and greenhouse gas emissions to nutrition, safe food, financial viability and sustainability, work conditions and animal care. It’s been touted as a way for the industry to measure its own performance before it’s measured without any industry say in methods used.
A pilot version of the index was published in May of 2023.
The Canadian Agricultural Policy Institute (CAPI), which houses the project, will use the announced funding to continue to refine the index, fix missing information and create an upgraded version of the index, the federal news release said.
Earlier this month, the Centre for Agri-Food Benchmarking launched.
“The Centre, housed at the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Insitute (CAPI), will accelerate and formalize the work of the unprecedented coalition of 137 partners supporting the National Index,” a Feb. 7 news release said.
