In this edition:
Remember that the next funding round closes on Monday 12 February 2007.
Electronic copies of applications must be emailed to the SFF by that date (sffund@maf.govt.nz).
Project advisers have already spoken to a number of groups and individuals
interested in putting an application into the next round. Click here for the contact
names and addresses of the project advisers, or call 0800 100 087.
Note that the SFF offices will be closed from 23 December 2006 to 7 January
2007. Our office reopens on Monday, 8 January.
Some key points to remember when completing a SFF application (based
on frequently asked questions):
- Assessment is based on the information provided in your application form
only - you need to make this application as clear and precise as possible. In
the past, potentially good projects have not made it to Phase 2 because ideas
were poorly expressed on paper.
- Use clear language and avoid jargon - remember that not all the assessors
will be familiar with your industry or issues.
- Demonstrate that the project is community or industry driven. We expect to
see landowners represented on the applicant group; cash and in-kind
contributions are a good indication of the level of a group's
commitment.
- The applicant group does not need to be a legal entity. However, in the
absence of the legal entity (e.g. an incorporated society), individuals in the
group must take responsibility for the delivery of the contract. If your
application is successful, think about who would sign the contract, who would
handle the finances etc.
- The SFF funds projects for up to three years of work ie. we don't make
long-term, on-going commitments. Think now about what will happen when the
funding runs out - will the work be complete? How will it be sustained over the
long term?
- Projects that provide a direct commercial benefit to an individual or
individual business are usually better funded elsewhere, for example with
Technology New
Zealand or NZ Trade and
Enterprise.
- The SFF is primarily a land user (grower, farmer or forester) based fund.
Therefore, projects need to consider the economic/ productive impacts alongside
any environmental or social outcomes. The best projects tend to have economic,
environmental and social benefits.
- The SFF does not usually fund basic research, unless it is directly linked
to a specific need identified by the Community of Interest.
Interested in finding out more?
We have updated our logo slightly to better reflect that the Sustainable
Farming Fund is part of the Ministry for Agriculture and Forestry.
The logo can be downloaded from the SFF website by clicking here. SFF project
teams should use this logo on all public material.
We endevour to send this electronic newsletter out as widely as possible to
SFF project teams and others interested the in updates and results from funded
projects. We usually just have the contact person from the project team on our
database (often the project manager). However, there are likely to be others in
the project teams not currently on our email list who should receive this
newsletter. Please encourage them to send us their names and emails, so we can
include them in the distribution. Note the email distribution list is
confidential to SFF and will not be passed on.
We are tying to improve the SFF reporting and the request for payment forms
to make progress reporting easier (and clearer) for everyone. Before the next
reporting round at the end of February, we'll be moving to a new request
for payment form for projects that started in 2005 and 2006.
We would also like all project teams to use a standard 'front-end'
template for Progress Reports to make recording progress against contracted
milestones much more straightforward.
At the end of a project it is important to capture the key learnings from
your SFF project experience (both positive and negative ones!). The SFF team
will be reviewing the Final Report template to ensure it really does capture
both the 'hard' publically available outputs and knowledge, as well as
the 'softer' insights.
There will be more information about this in the next newsletter as well as
in a letter to be sent to all project managers in the new year.
MAF Policy (of which the Sustainable Farming Fund is part of) now has its
own electronic newsletter.
Click here to go through to the first edition of MAF Policy News, which
covers the following topics:
- Climate change;
- Permanent forest sink initiative;
- MAF Policy's operational research programme;
- Adverse events review; and,
- Recent publications and reports from MAF Policy.
Click
here to subscribe to future editions of MAF Policy News.
Ending
We have enjoyed working with you all this year - it is great to see the
enthusiasm and commitment of so many people working in, and for, rural New
Zealand. We acknowledge the hard work you put in, often without pay, to make a
difference to your community and industry.
All the very best for the festive season,
Hai kona ra
Amanda, Craig, Diana, Fiona, Katherine and Helen
