Evaluation of the AgriRisk Initiatives Program — summary

About the evaluation

The Office of Audit and Evaluation at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada conducted an evaluation of the AgriRisk Initiatives Program (AgriRisk) to assess its relevance, efficiency and effectiveness.

• Program activities for fiscal year 2018-19 to 2022-23 were evaluated using the following lines of evidence: a review of program documents, project files and literature; key informant interviews; analyses of administrative and financial data; and a case study.

What we found

Relevance

• The program provides financial assistance to organizations for the development and adoption of risk management tools for the agriculture and agri-food sector.
• AgriRisk does not overlap with other programming as its objectives are unique. The Program complements the core Business Risk Management programs offered by AAFC.

Efficiency

• The program had a 2-stage application process allowing for upfront screening of projects, which was seen as a strength. Flexibility in eligible activities allowed funding recipients to adapt their activities as project circumstances evolved.
• Despite efforts made to improve service delivery, service standards were inconsistently met. Service standards related to inquiries and acknowledgement of applications were generally met while service standards related to the assessment of applications and the payment of claims were less consistently met.

Effectiveness

• The program contributed to increasing awareness of risk management tools and mitigation strategies and supported the development of risk management tools. However, the extent to which the producers adopted those tools is not known due to a lack of performance information.
• There were areas for improvement in the Performance Information Profile.
• AgriRisk integrated Gender-Based Analysis (GBA) Plus considerations to a limited extent, though this was not required under the Canadian Agricultural Partnership. Initially, there were no requirements in the application or the project performance report template to indicate if and how projects would help underrepresented groups. However, this was later integrated into application forms.

Lessons learned

Lesson 1: Programs should measure the integration of GBA Plus and related considerations in the design and delivery of their programs, as now required under the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership. Mandatory data collection requirements and a clear methodology are needed to capture findings that take into account GBA Plus principles. This would help understand the extent to which underrepresented groups participate in and/or are served by the program.

Lesson 2: Future programs should ensure that their indicators and outcomes are clearly aligned with the results logic model.