Nova Scotia Environmental Farm Plan Review

Client: Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture

Expertise Applied:

  • Stakeholder engagement

  • Qualitative research analysis

  • Strategic thinking

  • Programming in agriculture and the environment

The Nova Scotia Environmental Farm Plan (EFP) program has been supporting farmers in identifying and mitigating environmental risk on their farm properties since 1999. Since its inception, the program has evolved to keep the content current, and ensure that the delivery of the program meets the needs of the Nova Scotia agriculture sector.

In 2022, the Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture (NSFA) saw an opportunity to take stock in the current needs of the agriculture sector in Nova Scotia as it relates to farming and the environment and how well the EFP meets the current needs of farmers in the province.

We collaborated with the NSFA to undertake a project to review the EFP program and provide the NSFA with tangible recommendations for future iterations of the EFP program.

We supported the NSFA by:

  • Bringing together a Steering Committee and engaging with this group throughout the project

  • Conducting an environmental scan of the Nova Scotia agricultural sector needs including a scan of government priorities, consumer trends, extension programming in the province, and a gap analysis

  • Facilitating stakeholder engagement through 18 interviews, 3 focus groups, and developing and distributing a farmer survey

  • Synthesizing the research into a report outlining opportunities for the Nova Scotia EFP program

Supporting Agri-Environmental Extension Efforts

By synthesizing research on trends in agriculture and the environment, and what we heard from Nova Scotia farmers, we provided the NSFA with a comprehensive resource to support the future of the EFP program. We outlined program strengths, and opportunities for future improvement for EFP content and delivery.

Ultimately, our work will support the NSFA to continue to provide impactful EFP programming to farmers across the province.

Is your organization interested in connecting with agricultural stakeholders to learn about challenges and opportunities for program delivery? Our team of professionals can help!