Foreign Affairs committee  I'm sure some of my colleagues will also have something to say on this, so I'll make time for them. I will say, first of all, that if we don't engage with the Canadian public and Canadian industry, we won't be able to raise the awareness that we need for Canada to actually have a footprint that makes sense within Africa, so there has to be a way for us to engage.

Foreign Affairs committee  Well, again, being non-partisan, I think there are aspects of it that were effective. There were ways in which we were able to impact gender equality around the world that were very effective. I think there are some places where it was not effective and we did not really have a thought-through strategy, particularly for Africa, in terms of how development could be interwoven with the other aspects of Canadian foreign affairs.

Foreign Affairs committee  I believe we do, actually. I do believe that we haven't had a thought-through strategic approach to the continent as a whole or even to the regional side. I think we view things often country by country. I also don't think we've had a cohesive holistic strategy in terms of how development can interface with trade and diplomacy, and even in the peacebuilding context of defence as well.

Foreign Affairs committee  In terms of regional, I would say my colleagues have talked about the Sahel and I would add sub-Saharan Africa to that. These are areas that are often resource-rich. They're areas where Canada could benefit, but we can't benefit without actually being engaged in the well-being of the local population, which is where development comes in so importantly.

Foreign Affairs committee  I would say yes to both. I think that if we don't have an economic aspect to what we do, we're not going to be building stability in those countries and building trade links for us, so there has to be an economic aspect, yes, but it has to be underpinned by development aspects as well.

Foreign Affairs committee  I would, first of all, say that Global Affairs is full of very good people trying very hard and I would also say that the way that the things are structured, the way that the departments are structured, really doesn't allow for a lot of cross-fertilization. The first thing I would say is one of the things that has to be done is to really look at the structure of Global Affairs Canada.

Foreign Affairs committee  Exactly.

Foreign Affairs committee  Allow me to try that one. As an organization, we are non-partisan. We've worked with governments of different stripes for decades. I think we've already had some conversation today about the 0.7% and about how we're failing to reach the 0.7% commitment to ODA. That has gone up and down during different governments.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you. That's a great question. There was a great report put out a few years ago by Crestview—it was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—called “Opportunity 2050”. It said: Over the next 30 years, aid, good governance, trade, and employment-generating industries could add over $15 trillion to sub-Saharan Africa's GDP.

Foreign Affairs committee  It's lovely to see you, too.

Foreign Affairs committee  That's a great question. In terms of fragile states, we're talking about some of the world's most awkward places, in a sense, to work in. We're also talking about places where we continually have to go back to do food assistance. There are three aspects to this, I would say. First of all, as well as doing food assistance in those places or emergency response in those places, we need to be present.

Foreign Affairs committee  That's a great question. First of all, I think it's a matter of simplifying the process. There's a grants and contributions simplification process that Global Affairs Canada is undertaking at the moment. We're encouraging that process. The number of obligations, regulations and clauses that are in the agreements that every CSO has to supply to do this work is really quite extreme.

Foreign Affairs committee  That's a great question. As well as the technological side that we've talked about there, one of the things we have to recognize is that there are many things we can do in terms of farming practices. The Canadian Foodgrains Bank has a team of agriculture and livelihood technical advisers who work though Canada with local partners on projects that build climate-resilient food systems.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you, MP Epp. It's good to see you. What I can say about that grant is it has been in place for decades, actually, through different governments of Canada. It's a key part of Canada's commitment to the Food Assistance Convention. It's $25 million a year. We had a grant of between 2021 and 2024.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes. When we talk about food security, we're talking about the basics of life. When we're talking about the need for food and the importance of food within that, not being hungry is a basic human need. When we see hunger happen, we basically see conflicts as a result. You can see that right around the world at the moment.