Hello IAF Advisor Team,
I hope this message finds you well.
Over the past year, IAF has seen significant growth in its program delivery! In 2023/24, IAF has project commitments of over $100M with the agriculture and food sector in BC. With the Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) program, last fiscal was IAF’s first full year in S-CAP, delivering and evolving the program to increase client service and reporting.
I wanted to provide you with an update, specifically, reflecting on EFP’s successful implementation in the 2023/24 period:
- Targets: With your diligence, 694 EFPs were completed or renewed – opening doors to other funding opportunities for these producers! This is more than double the target we had for the contract with the province! I want to express my gratitude for your invaluable contributions in supporting the delivery of IAF’s programs, especially in transitional and growth years.
- Contracts: IAF transitioned the EFP program from site-specific payments to an hourly-based payment model and opened service contracts to include multiple programs. In addition to EFP, many contractors have worked on Farmland Advantage, BMP, Extreme Weather Preparedness for Agriculture and more.
- Client Processes: We also adopted (and refined) the online system for submitting EFP Requests, which has allowed us to meet our requirements with the Ministry to track requests, assignments, and completion dates. This system has enhanced our client service and enabled us to provide the Ministry with comprehensive data on the increasing demand for EFPs. I do recognize this transition has presented challenges, for both you and for producers, and I appreciate your adaptability.
- Client Access: Last year, we contracted a new EFP Advisor based in the Kootenay Boundary, and this year we expanded our search to include a wide range of professionals with diverse expertise. We received many expressions of interest through the call for professionals that we will use to recruit new EFP Advisors from the call to add to our fantastic Advisor team and support more areas in the province. We expect to expand our contractor pool across BC to help scale up our programs. More details will follow as they become available.
- Client Service: As part of our commitment to EFP and our Advisors, we dedicated a staff team member, Kritika Jha, to support advisors and client processes and access. Kritika has worked tirelessly with advisors, clients and IAF staff to implement EFP opportunities and strive to meet the requirements of our funding. Thank you, Kritika!
Also, I am pleased to announce that Hendrik Steenkamp will be joining our team as the new Director of Programs in September. This follows the departure of Abbie Morris.
Lastly, we are requesting your feedback to gather insights on the experiences with the program. The survey primarily focuses on program delivery. This is not a performance evaluation; its purpose is to help us enhance the delivery of the EFP Program. The survey link is below, I encourage everyone to participate and share their valuable feedback.
Take the survey > ADVISOR SURVEY
With that, thank you for being a vital part of the IAF Advisor team and for your outstanding work in supporting the producers of BC. Please feel free to reach out to your go-to inbox advisor@iafbc.ca, if you have any questions or comments.
Best regards,
TJ
