Background

Phase One - 2004

During a High Level Tri-national meeting in October 2001, the agricultural deputy ministers of Canada, Mexico and the United States discussed the need for more regular collaboration to promote agri-environmental and sustainable agriculture in North America. As one of the outcomes of the meeting, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) offered to organize and host a trilateral workshop to promote this collaboration.

Objectives

The workshop's main objective is to:

Generate new ideas and find workable solutions and processes in trilateral governmental collaboration to promote the protection of water quality through agri-environmental and sustainable agriculture practices.

Workshop participants will:

1. Share knowledge on agriculture-related water quality issues and responses in their countries; and

2. Agree to establish a basis for, and a commitment to, the promotion of trilateral cooperation on water quality issues.

Rationale

There are several important issues concerning agri-environmental and sustainable agriculture practices that could provide good opportunities for trilateral collaboration. One set of such issues is related to land use, including farm planning, voluntary conservation programs, and the sustainable use and management of agricultural resources (in particular, surface and groundwater use and management in drought mitigation; soil erosion and salinization; and agroforestry). Environmental problems may rise from a broad scale of activities: the impacts of agricultural intensification on surface and groundwater contamination; the contribution of land use, agricultural production and agro-industrial intensification to climate change/GHG emissions, etc.

One of the impediments to finding the right responses is the lack of integrated assessment methods that could help map out the impact of changes and existing practices. In many instances, we lack reliable measurement data and related agri-environmental indicators that would either serve as measures of key environmental conditions, risks and changes, or report on progress in implementing sustainable development strategies and meeting their objectives. Each of these issues deserves serious attention and each topic could be the subject of a separate workshop discussing trilateral governmental cooperation.

We have decided to focus the first workshop on one set of issues to provide adequate time for thorough discussions. We have chosen water quality issues because they are a high priority for all three countries and because collaboration seems to be feasible. Water, a vital resource, is at the centre of growing international attention: it one was one of the central issues discussed at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, and water quality issues are increasingly focused on in international fora such as the OECD.

To achieve the workshop's objectives, we need to identify a limited number of water quality sub-themes that are relevant to all three countries. Secondly, we need to identify government and producer responses that are already in place reflecting these priorities, and on which collaboration can be built.

The issues

The most serious challenges to water quality stemming from agricultural practices are:

Many of these problems remain related to farm restructuring: fewer and larger farms mean increased use of fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides and more concentrated output of manure and waste water in smaller areas, and this trend increases the risk of water contamination. There are factors beyond farmers' control that can also contribute to additional pollution: weather; pest conditions; commodity prices; and changing consumer preferences.

Increased use of conservation farming methods, on the other hand, can reduce contamination. For example, sedimentation can be reduced through better soil conservation techniques, and pesticide-related contamination can be reduced through the use of alternative pest-control methods such as Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

For practical reasons, we have decided to focus on a smaller set of sub-themes, as outlined in the agenda. In addition to the session designed to increase awareness and understanding of the effects of agriculture on water quality, subsequent sessions will present farm-level management and wider-scale indicator and monitoring activities being used in the three countries to address agricultural water quality issues.

Responses to issues

Finding effective solutions to these complex water quality problems requires innovative approaches that are aligned with core water programs of governments and that complement initiatives led by, or partnered with, producer organizations. Trilateral governmental collaboration to promote agri-environmental and sustainable agriculture practices to improve water quality, needs to be based on successful existing policies and governmental responses to the issues. For this reason, the workshop will focus on areas where the three governments are already active in addressing water quality issues: education and awareness building, research and technology transfer, the use of incentive programs, and monitoring and indicator programs.

Successful examples of bilateral cooperation, such as the Canada-Mexico Rural Development Initiative and the recently announced Memorandum of Understanding between USDA and SEMARNAT regarding environmental issues, will be considered as examples of best practices in collaboration. Finally, representatives of producer organizations in the three countries will present case studies that focus on their more successful initiatives to address the impact of agriculture on water quality.

The role of trilateral cooperation

Cooperation should build on our strengths and promote existing good practices. It may include the following areas:

Canadian and international experience suggests that the engagement and leadership by producer organizations is critical for successful adoption of more sustainable farming practices. A North American process for farmers to promote the improvement of water quality could make a significant contribution to sustainable agriculture. Such a process would provide the means to bring non-governmental farm organizations together to collaborate, establish common goals, share technical information, plan future workshops and develop communications strategies. The process would also include the collaboration between farmers and research/knowledge institutions, as well as the outreach role of the input-supply industry in promoting best practices.

Deliverables

Two short-term deliverables from the workshop will be a list of the most promising opportunities for collaborative efforts on water quality responses and a recommendation for concrete initial steps towards one or more collaborative projects related to water quality (preferably involving producer organizations). An additional deliverable will be a discussion of the possibility of holding similar workshops on collaboration regarding other agri-environmental issues such as soil conservation, biodiversity, etc.

Additionally, the workshop will provide an opportunity for Mexico and the U.S. to offer input on a proposed hemispheric conference on the role of producer organizations in promoting better water quality stewardship, which AAFC is currently considering organizing.

Format

As detailed in the agenda, the two-day workshop will consist of six sessions on different aspects of agricultural water-quality issues. We are asking each of the three participating countries to provide five to eight governmental representatives who are currently working on water quality issues and responses in their country, and who have the expertise to discuss the topics outlined in the agenda. Each national delegation will be asked to prepare presentations for each of the five initial sessions, and to participate in a Web-based discussion forum in the weeks before the workshop.

In addition to water-quality experts, Canadian Deputy Minister of Agriculture Samy Watson, and his counterparts, Deputy Secretary Jim Moseley of the USDA, Deputy Secretary Ing. Francisco Lopez Tostado of SAGARPA and Dr. Víctor Manuel Villalobos Arambula, General Coordinator for International Affairs, SAGARPA, will be attending the workshop to discuss water quality and other agri-environmental issues.

AAFC will also ask Canadian producer organizations to attend the workshop, and would welcome producer organization representatives from Mexico and the United States (maximum of two representatives from each country).

Experts from the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Winnipeg, Manitoba, will maintain the Web site and moderate the workshop. Workshop participants will be asked to select rapporteurs, while the workshop report and summary will be prepared by IISD. Workshop papers and the workshop report will be circulated among the participants and posted on the Web site.