North American Agricultural Advisory Network

Promoting collaboration among Canadian, Mexican, and U.S. agricultural and rural development advisory services

The North American Agricultural Advisory Network (NAAAN) is an emerging formal network of stakeholders in agricultural advisory services.

The NAAAN links existing agricultural extension communities with one another and with stakeholders in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. The NAAAN connects with counterparts in other countries through its membership in the Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services (GFRAS), an international non-governmental organization, which has regional networks around the world and serves as the voice for agricultural extension programs and service providers.

Mission statement

The NAAAN is a North American platform among advisory services organizations, including government extension services, that promotes and supports innovation, knowledge utilization, and information sharing across rural and urban landscapes in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. NAAAN will share North American best practices and facilitate learning from global best practices.  

The NAAAN was established in 2019 in consultation with the following organizations:

• USDA’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA)
• Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP) of the U.S. Cooperative Extension System
• U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) 
• Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU) 
• Key stakeholders in Canada, Mexico, and the U.S.

The NAAAN is focused on sharing information and best practices by:

• Building upon existing extension and advisory services to bring best practices into collaboration
• Providing a forum for discussion of agricultural extension
• Building and expanding relationships, shared learning, and shared programming 
• Expanding the opportunities for extension practitioners and stakeholders for more exposure to the North American experience
• Accelerating information sharing in a changing environment for food production and food security

The NAAAN Steering Committee

A NAAAN Steering Committee representing member countries and institutional stakeholders will provide strategic guidance to the NAAAN Secretariat and programming activities. The committee will have nine members: two committee members and one ex officio member from each country.