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The Small Farmers Adapting to Global Markets Project

The Small Farmers Adapting to Global Markets project (SFP) targets small farmers in western China to assist them to adapt to domestic and international markets. The Project is designed around four fundamental pillars (see graph) of activities that will support effective macro-micro links between policy level initiatives and grassroots pilot projects in the western provinces. China – Canada began the project in April, 2003 with a total budget of CAD $40 million. Canada contributed a total of CAD$19.6 million.

Food Safety and Food Development

The project has worked with partners to elaborate a National Food Safety Strategy; co-sponsored the Global Food Safety Forum; developed and delivered food safety programs in Canada and China related to on-farm food safety, HACCP, food safety laboratory methods and management and the linkages between food safety and supply chain managers; facilitated services for the development of the food processing industry in China and enhanced the links between supply chain managers and small farmers.

Enhanced WTO compliance capability

The project has produced a capacity building plan focused on WTO and agricultural policy, reporting mechanisms and technical support for notification to the WTO and bilateral trade partners. More than 100 trainees will be trained in Canada annually so that a cadre of key trainers can be developed to support subsequent training programs in China.

Agricultural Administration Reform

The project jointly supported an international workshop on Agriculture Administration with the MOA and the World Bank, leading to a set of policy recommendations and activities covering a wide variety of reform priorities of the Government of China and to be supported through project activities. These include, for example, research on Farmers’ Associations, Agricultural Extension Reform, Villagers’ Collective Property Rights Reform, WTO and Agricultural Support Options and the National Food Safety Strategy.

Small Farmers adapted to WTO-based markets

Five commodity based pilot projects have been designed to provide a framework for macro-micro links between farmers and other project policy-related activities and to demonstrate Canadian adapted technologies. Pilot projects operate in Sichuan (vegetables, pork, edible oils) and IMAR (dairy, potatoes). The pilot projects will engage participants in the evolving value-added supply chains for each commodity from farm to table and incorporate technical and management elements that provide benefits for all chain members. Through this process the project is expected to facilitate small farmers’ access to the markets which demand a consistent supply of safer, high quality food products.

The project is managed by the Canadian executing agency, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (with offices in Ottawa and Beijing) and the Ministry of Commerce as the Chinese executing agency, and is overseen by a Board of Directors representing 8 ministries. The project website (www.ccag.com.cn) provides information and technical resources to support the program and trainers and to further expand and extend successful elements of the project activities.

Sustainable Agriculture Development Project, Phase II

The majority of China's poorest women and men live in the Western Regions of China and still rely primarily on agriculture for their livelihood. Continued and enhanced growth in the economy of the Western Regions is absolutely essential if China is to continue to reduce poverty, prevent social instability, and reduce the inequity between the poor western regions and the better off coastal areas. However, sustainability of natural resources remains a key constraint to future growth in the Western Regions. Continued poverty reduction programming in many parts of Western China compromised by widespread land degradation and dust storms have proven to be a tough challenge for China. To support China in the development of innovative land management technologies and extension services to promote sustainable land use in the Western Regions, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) agreed to implement the “Sustainable Agriculture Development Project-Phase II” in selected western provinces, including Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Xinjiang, Sichuan, Xiangxi Prefecture of Hunan and Enshi Prefecture of Hubei.

The expected outcomes for the rural western regions where the project will be active are: 1) Adaptation of land resource management systems for sustainable agriculture; 2) Enhanced Sustainable Agriculture Extension Systems, and; 3) Improved enabling environment for sustainable land resource management.

China and Canada began the implementation of this project on Oct.15, 2004 in consultation with key Chinese government ministries, industry representatives, research institutes and other international donors. Canada’s contribution to the project is estimated at CND$ 20,000,000 (approximately 130 million RMB) over a period of 5 years and this will be supported by an equivalent counterpart budget from the Government of China. Canadian project inputs concentrate on the provision of Canadian and Chinese Long-Term Technical Advisors (LTTAs), short term consultants and training programs in China and Canada.

The Canadian executing agency for the project is Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), while the Ministry of Agriculture of China assumes the Chinese responsibilities related to the implementation of the project in China. The project implementation is overseen by a Central Coordination Committee co-chaired by CIDA and MOFCOM and consists of the Director General for Sustainable Production Systems from AAFC, relevant MOA departments and institutions, and the Directors General of the agriculture and animal husbandry bureaus of the project provinces/prefectures.

This Phase II SADP builds on the initiatives of Phase I which was implemented in Inner Mongolia that have the potential for broader applicability to other western development areas. Project activities involve the sharing of Canadian experiences, institutional capacity building, the enhancement or development of appropriate policies, technologies and systems to improve land management and extension services, training in Canada and in China, practical attachments in Canada and assistance in the creation and development of farmer organizations. Project activities will be implemented at both the central and provincial levels, while demonstration sites are supported at the county, village and household levels. At the national level the project will focus on capacity building for senior administrators and decision-makers and policy research in support of project objectives. Field based programs will focus on pilot counties to demonstrate sustainable agriculture strategies and their extension to other areas and regions.

Livestock Health Extension Services Project

The majority of China’s poorest women and men live in the Western Regions and still rely primarily on agriculture for their livelihoods. Continued and enhanced growth in the economy of the Western Regions is absolutely essential if China is to continue to fight poverty, prevent social instability and reduce the inequity between the poor western regions and the better off coastal areas.

China’s livestock sector has seen dramatic increases in the local consumption of animal products creating the opportunity for value-added livestock production to lift poor, subsistence western farmers out of poverty. However, smallholders remain particularly vulnerable to the continuing threat of animal disease, which could quickly destroy farmers’ livelihoods. Unsafe and unhealthy livestock farming practices that have accompanied the growth of this sector pose significant animal and human health risks that could undo many of the benefits that have been achieved to dates. An animal health extension system that responds to the needs of smallholders is essential not only to meet the growing demand for safe and healthy livestock products and fulfill WTO standards, but also to support sustainable economic and social development of the western regions.

To support poverty reduction in Western Regions and the reform of monitoring, reporting and containment of animal diseases to meet WTO standards, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) agreed to implement the Livestock Health Extension Services Project (LHESP). The LHESP will be implemented from 2005 to 2010 in the western provinces of Xinjiang, Gansu, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (IMAR), Shaanxi and Sichuan as well as Chongqing and YanBian prefecture of Jilin. The project’s main office will be located in Beijing. Canada’s contribution to the project is approximately CDN $20 million over five years, supported by an equivalent counterpart budget from the Government of China.

The LHESP will increase farm productivity and income for poor rural women and men in Western Regions, resulting in: sustainable increased farm productivity and income for poor rural women and men; reduced inequality between costal and Western Provinces; and, improved systems, policy and institutional capacity for the management of livestock health in an equitable and sustainable manner. Project activities will contribute to: an enhanced enabling environment at the national and provincial levels for improving the delivery of livestock health extension services to the poor in Western Regions; increased capacity of relevant livestock health extension systems and institutions in selected provinces to deliver sustainable livestock health services to smallholder livestock producers in a participatory manner; improved education and skills of animal health professionals in Western china with an emphasis on training methodologies; and, a functioning animal and human health information, monitoring and surveillance system.

The LHESP will adopt an integrated approach that links reform-oriented livestock health policy initiatives with practical regulatory frameworks for delivery, monitoring and evaluation at the farm level and in the market place. Training programs in both Canada and China will encompass decision makers at the national and regional levels and contribute to more effective policy development. This participatory process will include government units at all levels as well as the private sector, farmers’ association and the farmers themselves. Village-based pilot initiatives will ensure appropriate linkages between policy and practice lead to the development of a sustainable, effective system of livestock health extension.

The Canadian executing agency for the project is Agriteam Canada Consulting Limited, from Calgary, Alberta. The Ministry of Agriculture of China assumes the Chinese responsibilities related to the implementation of the project in China. The project is overseen by a Central Coordination Committee at the central level, and Provincial Project Implementation Committees in the provinces.