October 2005

About MAFRI

Growing Opportunities

Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives unveiled its new organizational structure, Growing Opportunities, in December 2004. The first phase of the organizational restructuring involved an extensive consultative process with staff, industry, community leaders and community members. Our partners indicated that Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives programs and services needed to be realigned to meet local community and industry needs better and to meet the Department’s expanded mandate. They also advised that Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives needed to work more collaboratively with industry, rural communities and agricultural associations and organizations to take advantage of emerging opportunities in food and non-food value-added industries.

The Department was encouraged by the high level of participation of people who have a stake in the future of rural Manitoba and in the agriculture and agri-food industry. Twelve focus groups were convened involving more than 110 clients and industry representatives.

After listening to the input from staff, industry and communities, the new organizational structure was designed to facilitate the initiatives to be undertaken in conjunction with the Department’s overall mission as described in the Destination 2010 vision document. The Department is now actively engaging in phase two of Growing Opportunities, which consists of implementing and refining the organizational structure designed in phase one. During 2005 and 2006, the Department will focus on recruiting, orienting, training and helping staff to make the transition to new positions established under Growing Opportunities and to set up offices for the new organizational units. Department staff will also be consulting further with industry and communities to identify industry and community priorities and to obtain feedback from clients on programming, as part of the Department’s ongoing strategic planning process.

As a result, some of the new programs introduced under Growing Opportunities may not yet be fully described on this website. Some programs were established by April 1, 2005, while other programs will take longer to establish due to the staffing and office set-up required.

Please see the Growing Opportunities brochure for more information.