Federal government invests $7.8 million in Laurier research collaboration to increase northern food production

Aug. 29, 2024

The Northwest Territories (NWT) has experienced record-setting wildfire seasons, as well as flood and drought events in recent years, significantly impacting traditional food sources, local food production infrastructure and agricultural land. Evacuations in 2023 exposed supply chain vulnerabilities, leaving stores empty in remote communities that rely on imported food and reinforcing the need for greater food sovereignty in the NWT.

Researchers from Wilfrid Laurier University are collaborating with the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) and the Territorial Agrifood Association (TAA) –  a non-governmental, non-profit organization representing the NWT agrifood industry – to foster local food production and distribution. The research partners have secured $7.8 million from the federal government’s NSERC-SSHRC Sustainable Agriculture Research Initiative to explore innovative policy solutions. The four-year Future Harvest Partnership will build on previous initiatives to generate a sustainable food system in the NWT that improves access to fresh and healthy foods, fosters reconciliation and is responsive to the effects of climate change.

Primary investigator Andrew Spring, the Canada Research Chair in Northern Sustainable Food Systems at Laurier, has more than a decade of experience working with northern partners on food security initiatives. In October 2023, he co-led a workshop with the GNWT’s Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment and the TAA to explore research priorities and tensions between social, economic and ecological trade-offs in food systems. Prioritizing the needs of local producers and stakeholders, participants identified key priorities for the work ahead and formed the basis of the successful federal grant application.

Small-scale food production is increasingly common across the NWT, while commercial agricultural production is generating more fresh food supply for local markets and beyond. However, new research shows that farming on permafrost soils releases more carbon into the atmosphere than previously expected. While the environmental consequences of northern agriculture can be partially offset with sustainable management practices, critical knowledge and policy gaps remain if NWT food producers are to be supported in adopting such practices.

“Participatory action research, including Indigenous and farmer-led research with communities of practice, will help to identify strategies to implement fair and effective sustainable agriculture policy and practices suited to northern ecosystems,” says Spring.

Janet Dean, executive director of the TAA, believes that this research collaboration is an “exciting first step” toward long-term northern food sovereignty. 

“The Northwest Territories is at the end of a very long supply chain, so we need to have policies based on the realities of northern communities that enable and support the means to produce our own food,” says Dean.

The research project includes collaborators from the University of Waterloo, McGill University, the University of Guelph, and Spring’s Laurier colleagues Jennifer Baltzer, the Canada Research Chair in Forests and Global Change, Alison Blay-Palmer, the UNESCO Chair on Food, Biodiversity and Sustainability Studies, and Debora VanNijnatten, professor of Political Science and North American Studies.

“By integrating the expertise of researchers, local producers and Indigenous communities, we are committed to developing sustainable agricultural practices that not only improve food access, but also support northern cultures and regional economic growth and diversity,” says the Honourable Caitlin Cleveland, minister of Industry, Tourism and Investment at the GNWT. “This initiative will help build a resilient food system in the territory, fostering greater food sovereignty and a healthier future for residents.”