Canadian Foodgrains Bank teaching sustainable farming around the world

By Tim Kalinowski, Staff Writer

Those engaged in agriculture in Alberta and Saskatchewan give back in many ways to help those less fortunate in society, but for many farmers the causes they like to give to the most are directly connected the land, the soil and business of agriculture itself. Instances where they can use the skills they have acquired over a lifetime on the farm in service of others. It makes the causes they work toward more tangible, practical, and rewarding when they do come to fruition.

Canadian Foodgrains Bank taps into this deep affinity within the farm community by providing an outlet where someone engaged in agriculture can grow a crop, sell it and send those proceeds overseas to help buy food aid or set up agriculture improvement projects in the 39 countries where the Canadian Foodgrains Bank is active around the world.

Andre Visscher, southern Alberta coordinator for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, explains further.

“Basically groups of farmers get together and they grow a crop for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank and donate the proceeds from the sale of the crop,” says Visscher. “We use those funds to buy food in areas where that is needed.

“This year, for example, we have been very busy in Ethiopia, Syria and Lebanon. We try to buy food as close as possible, and buy food the people in those places are used to eating. They may not be used to eating Canadian wheat; they might be used to eating rice or maize.”

Visscher says 33 years ago the Canadian Foodgrains Bank used to have their grower groups harvest wheat for direct import to troubled nations facing food insecurity. However, about nine years ago this Canadian government started getting groups like his to think differently.

“It used to be our project groups would donate the grain to us,” explains Visscher. “They would grow wheat and we would ship that overseas to help people that did not have enough food. That’s the way we started. The Canadian government of the time liked that, and they were giving us matching funding. For each dollar we used for shipping grain overseas, they gave us another four dollars.

“But it was very inefficient. It took a long time get the food to those that needed it. So about eight or nine years ago thee Canadian government changed its mind in saying that we had to ship Canadian wheat. So now the growing projects and individual farmers that are donating grain are cashing in the grains and they donate the proceeds to us instead.

“There are a lot of advantages. It helps the market in areas where product is available. You pay a fair price and help that market as well. And we can do a lot more than we used to this way, because it is a lot cheaper for us to buy over there.”

Canadian Foodgrains Bank has also shuffled its priorities toward helping those in countries in need build up their own food self-sufficiency.

“The goal is to make them self-sufficient,” says Visscher. “To make their food secure. Sometimes you do have to do food assistance in cases where there are droughts or other disasters like war, when there is just no extra food around. But we do a lot more agriculture development projects, and have people grow better crops.”

“I was in Ethiopia earlier this year,” continues Visscher, “and I toured projects where people are building a dam in the river and building irrigation canals. One project they received food for their work, and in another project they received cash. So I asked the groups why do you get cash and the other receives food? The project leaders said it was whatever the people wanted, that’s what the Canadian Foodgrains Bank provided. Often when food prices are high, and it’s harder to get in a region, people would rather have the food.”

And it isn’t just mega-projects like building dams or canals Canadian Foodgrains Bank is involved with, it’s also work with individual farmers to make them grow more efficiently on their own land. Visscher gives an example of this Canadian farming know-how at work in the case of one project in Africa.

“We have recently received funding from the Canadian government to do a three year project where we are working with 50,000 farmers to get them going on conservation agriculture,” explains Visscher. “The way we farm here on the prairies where we don’t plough the field because now we know what wind erosion can be: That’s the kind of projects we do there as well where we keep mulch on top of the soil so it doesn’t dry out as quickly. And it helps with weed control. With that extra moisture preserved in the soil, the yields increase as well. We have seen increases where yield are three to seven times higher.”

Visscher went on a project visit to see how one conservation agriculture farmer was getting on in Ethiopia.

“He said everybody in the village called me crazy because I was bringing banana leaves and cornstalks back to the field and put it on top of my field. He said when they saw the crop coming through the mulch, and they thought I had better yields than everybody else, this year the neighbours we trying it too.

“That’s what we hope for; that what we teach spreads.”

Canadian Foodgrains Bank has enjoyed 33 years of deep involvement with the agricultural community across Canada, and it is a relationship which continues to be rewarding and meaningful to all involved, says Visscher.

“It’s a lot of fun to be involved in a growing project and grow a crop with others. It’s building community and getting people together, with all having the common goal to end hunger. This is what our farmers are good at; growing a crop and growing food. It’s sad there is still so many people in the world that do not have enough food… There is still close to 800 million that don’t have enough food in this world… Farmers have been really good to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. They believe in what we are doing.”

“We have recently received funding from the Canadian government to do a three year project where we are working with 50,000 farmers to get them going on conservation agriculture,” explains Visscher. “The way we farm here on the prairies where we don’t plough the field because now we know what wind erosion can be: That’s the kind of projects we do there as well where we keep mulch on top of the soil so it doesn’t dry out as quickly. And it helps with weed control. With that extra moisture preserved in the soil, the yields increase as well. We have seen increases where yield are three to seven times higher.”

Visscher went on a project visit to see how one conservation agriculture farmer was getting on in Ethiopia.

“He said everybody in the village called me crazy because I was bringing banana leaves and cornstalks back to the field and put it on top of my field. He said when they saw the crop coming through the mulch, and they thought I had better yields than everybody else, this year the neighbours we trying it too.

“That’s what we hope for; that what we teach spreads.”

Canadian Foodgrains Bank has enjoyed 33 years of deep involvement with the agricultural community across Canada, and it is a relationship which continues to be rewarding and meaningful to all involved, says Visscher.

“It’s a lot of fun to be involved in a growing project and grow a crop with others. It’s building community and getting people together, with all having the common goal to end hunger. This is what our farmers are good at; growing a crop and growing food. It’s sad there is still so many people in the world that do not have enough food… There is still close to 800 million that don’t have enough food in this world… Farmers have been really good to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. They believe in what we are doing.”