Genome Canada has launched new Climate-Smart Agriculture and Food Systems initiative. A distinguishing feature of the Initiative is that it will fund a portfolio of interdisciplinary projects and helps coordinate and connect their efforts with cross-cutting programs for knowledge mobilization, data coordination and implementation across Canada. This portfolio approach allows benefits from one solution to translate into other food production systems or supply chains and cascade impact throughout the broader food system.
The Initiative will deploy a number of funding opportunities that will make up the portfolio. These will include:
The Interdisciplinary Challenge Teams (ICT2022) funding opportunity represents the largest, key component of the initiative. This competition will support integrated teams of researchers and users across various disciplines working together to address specific questions, achieve relevant deliverables and, ultimately, reduce the carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions of Canada’s agriculture and food systems.
As part of the Initiative portfolio, the teams will work toward broader national impacts that manifest value beyond each individual project. Teams will provide genomic solutions to help implement agriculture and food production systems that are climate-resilient, socially responsible, economically viable and environmentally sustainable and that contribute to the mitigation of climate change impacts
The scope of this funding opportunity will include areas where genomic technologies are used to help achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and reduce the carbon footprint of Canada’s agriculture and food production system.
Projects should seek solutions that will increase the value created by production systems without increasing greenhouse gas emissions or amplifying negative impacts on the natural environment. Furthermore, projects should demonstrate how their outputs could be translated into reduced emissions by considering the various dimensions of the food system value chain, including production, processing, distribution and consumption.
