E-news Number 4 for project teams and all those interested in Sustainable Farming in New Zealand

Dear all He mihi nui ki a koutou

In this edition:

• The Sustainable Farming Fund receives base-line funding!
• High quality of applications in sixth SFF funding round
• Workshops for Phase 2 applicants - includes links to resource material from the workshops

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THE SUSTAINABLE FARMING FUND RECEIVES BASE-LINE FUNDING

Decisions announced in this year's Budget are important to the future of the Sustainable Farming Fund.

Minister of Agriculture, Jim Sutton, said that the funding for the initiative was now part of the core Vote Agriculture and Forestry, rather than being allocated specifically every few years. This decision means that Fund has a more secure future.

Celebrating the on-going funding for the Sustainable Farming Fund are (from left): Hon Damien O'Connor (Minister for Rural Affairs), Hon Jim Sutton (Minister of Agriculture), Liz McGruddy (SFF Project Manager for NZ Flax Farmers Group), Kevin Steel (Fund Manager).

The business case considered by Ministers in reaching their decision was supported by an external evaluation of the Fund's progress that BERL (Business and Economic Research Ltd) completed late last year. The reviewers concluded that:

• The benefits within individual projects are multi-dimensional with economic, environment and social benefits being generated in may cases.
• Potential economic return to GDP (or farm-gate production) from a selected group of projects is in the range of NZ$330 million to NZ$530 million per annum, if all potential developments proceed.
• The project groups have also contributed actual and potential environmental benefits. Many of these can be quantified, though not necessarily monetised.
• Further investment and resources may be required to realise project benefits or facilitate post-project adoption. In other words we will collectively work hard on the post project technology transfer and extension so that results get applied and make a real difference

What does this decision and announcement mean?

It means that there we will be calling for new project proposals later this year (for projects starting on or after 1 July 2006).

The closing date for the 2 page expression of interest stage will be Monday 13 February 2006.

The decision also means that we can be more active in developing a programme approach to working with project teams in technology transfer and extension.

This will involve holding workshops and seminars to bring together the results from clusters of project teams working on similar problems or opportunities. This approach gives the opportunity for project teams to work together and for others to hear your results.

The IPM Workshop that SFF hosted with the NZ Society for Plant Protection in August of last year was a pilot for this approach.

Planning is under way for other events - we will advise you of these details later.

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HIGH QUALITY OF APPLICATIONS IN SIXTH SFF FUNDING ROUND

Number of SFF applications received in 2005/06 funding round: 208

Total funding requested: nearly $35 million (over 3 times more than what is available)

Number of applicants asked to submit a full Phase 2 proposal: 72

Results announced (for Phase 2) : late June

Number of proposals receiving funding in the under $20,000 category: 24 (subject to contracting)

Unsuccessful this year? The next round will open in October 2005 (for funding 2006/07 financial year). Contact a project advisor if your want to resubmit your proposal next round.

Overall impressions? The quality of the applications was higher than in previous years making decision making difficult.

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APPLICANT WORKSHOPS "PROJECT PLANNING FOR (WIDER) SUCCESS"

• What makes a good proposal?
• How can we ensure our project makes a difference? How can we measure this difference?
• What will happen to the project once the funding runs out?
• What are other project teams doing?
• How do we communicate the results - to our group and to a wider audience?

These were some of the topics addressed at 4 regional workshops run by the Sustainable Farming Fund in mid April for 2005/06 applicants who had either got through into Phase 2 of the application process (>$20k category) or had received funding in the <$20k category.

Up to 4 people from each project team attended one of the workshops held in Auckland, Palmerston North, Christchurch and Dunedin. The day was facilitated by social scientist Ian Tarbotton, with a current SFF project manager in each region providing the "real-life" examples.

The workshops came about from the observation/ feedback at other SFF events that:

• Extension (sometimes called technology or knowledge transfer) isn't always well understood or encorporated into project planning. Some of us still have the idea that a 'popular article' will transfer the results and solve the problem.
• The person who does the research may not be the best person to communicate the results.
• A well-planned project has a better chance of success: both within the life of the project and beyond.
• Feedback from the workshops was generally very positive. Even experienced project managers felt they gained new ideas. Many people appreciated the opportunity to interact with other project teams and learn from the experiences of others.

One of the more interesting sessions was identifying what steps are needed before, during and after a project to ensure its success. Click here to go through to the SFF website to see what the participants at each workshop had to say about ensuring project success.

The workshop attendees received a workbook which contained additonal notes prepared by Ian Tarbotton on: Change, Making a Difference, Needs Analysis, Data to Information to Knowledge and Beyond, Lifelong Learning, Continuous Improvement, and Knowledge Management.

Interested in reading more? Click here to go through to the SFF website for a copy of the workshop handbook.

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ENDING

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Kind regards
Hai kona ra

Kevin, Amanda, Barrie, Fiona, Katherine and Helen