Abstract
Indigenous producers have long participated in food production in Canada but have been historically excluded from conventional agricultural markets and systems. In recent years, there has been an increase in Indigenous communities’ desire to engage in commercial agriculture, and tentative steps have been made toward greater inclusion of Indigenous producers in these systems. Such inclusion, however, faces challenges of balancing recognition of the diverse practices and principles of Indigenous production with regulatory standardization in conventional systems. To illustrate the complexities of this varied dynamic of inclusion and independence, this paper presents a portrait of the contemporary and shifting dynamics of the Indigenous agri-food sector in Canada. It provides a statistical snapshot of contemporary involvement in the sector and details three agri-food areas where Indigenous producers are making inroads: berries, fungi, and wild rice. Results show that the Indigenous population is underrepresented in the sector, and there is a significant data gap in Indigenous agricultural activities. Indigenous producers have found success in conventional, though niche, agri-food sectors by taking different productive approaches than what is often found in conventional agribusiness models and can be expected to continue to grow in these areas. Shortcomings of the current data collection tools that have led to limited knowledge about the scale and scope of Indigenous agricultural economies are discussed with implications for future research in the area.
Presenters
Omid MirzaeiAssistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Indigenous Food Production, Indigenous Food Systems, Indigenous Food Sovereignty
