Agriculture and Agriculture et Agri-Food Canada Agroalimentaire Canada Research Branch Direction générale de la recherche Agricultural Bioproducts Innovation Program FINAL NETWORK REPORT ABIP Network Name: Natural Fibres for the Green Economy Network - NAFGEN

Similarly, at the beginning of NAFGEN, the Canadian hemp industry was in its 10 year of commercial growth and had developed into a $20 million dollar industry. Most of the commercial growth to date had been driven by the vigorous seed sector, fuelled by demand in the health food and body care products sector. NAFGEN’s vision included laying the ground work for establishing value-added hemp fibre based processors and related industries. This is a critical step in fully realizing hemp’s potential as a dual use crop with environmental, economic and social benefits. To capitalize on this, it was apparent that Industrial hemp should be developed and introduced as a viable crop option across Canada and would represent a further crop option for farmers and a viable option for more marginal agricultural land.