Canada’s ranking in global agri-food trade value has slipped from fifth to ninth place since the early 2000s.Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press
Royal Bank of Canada RY-T is rolling out $5-million across five years to kick-start innovation in Canadian agriculture by connecting university students with farmers and agri-tech startups.
The money is part of a new university initiative that is trying to increase farming and food presence on campuses through training programs, work placements and other activities such as hackathons.
The $5-million investment will also boost collaboration between academia and industry by funding sustainable farming projects and new financial products.
The money is sorely needed, said RBC agriculture policy lead Lisa Ashton. In a report released alongside the announcement, the bank said Canadian agriculture is not fully equipped to tackle climate change, trade volatility and rising costs because of a drought of fresh talent, capital and innovation. As a result, Canada’s ranking in global agri-food trade value has slipped from fifth to ninth place since the early 2000s, while productivity growth has declined from 2 per cent to 1 per cent over the past decade.
But encouraging young talent to look toward agriculture is a solution, Ms. Ashton said.
“I think the big barrier is exposure to the agricultural sector. Within agriculture, everyone is passionate about the sector and champions it. But those outside are not aware.”
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Some of the $5-million will fund the newly launched Sustainable Food Systems for Canada network, or SF4C - a group of 13 universities and colleges that is trying to connect more than 10,000 students to agricultural work placements and other training opportunities in the sector.
Introducing students to agriculture is especially important right now, Ms. Ashton said. The industry is quickly advancing to accommodate disruptive forces such as climate change and trade disputes. Recent innovations include robots that pick mushrooms and AI that can calculate ideal growing conditions in climate-controlled greenhouses.
But those with high-tech skills and training often don’t consider agriculture as a career path, said Mr. Ashton, adding that typically only those from farming backgrounds are aware of how modern farming operates. Less than 1 per cent of STEM and business graduates are choosing occupations in agriculture, according to the RBC report.
Targeted initiatives such as SF4C are attempting to tackle this disconnect.
Headquartered at the University of Guelph, the organization started hosting hackathons across Canada this month, meant to bring together students from across disciplines and universities and address challenges such as food shortages for non-profit food hubs.
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The SF4C initiative will also expose students to entrepreneurial training, such as how to pitch a business to investors. This could help slow the agricultural startup drain to the United States where new businesses have more access to capital and mentorship. Agri-food technology startups in the U.S. have received 94 per cent more investment than those in Canada over the past five years, the RBC report said.
“By creating incentives to reward innovative farmers, and equipping the next generation to be entrepreneurial problem solvers, we can work towards better national food security,” said Evan Fraser, director of the Arrell Food Institute at the University of Guelph and co-chair of SF4C.
And funding from public and private institutions is key, Ms. Ashton said. Public spending on agricultural knowledge generation has dropped 15 per cent since 2010, falling behind the U.S., Japan, Australia and Brazil, according to the RBC report. Private funding for research and development on agriculture in universities is down 77 per cent across the past five years, the report said.
Fresh talent is needed to reverse the trend, Ms. Ashton said.
“We need deep expertise that not only understands the landscape, but also understands how to apply it to the agricultural sector.”