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Polar Regions

Abstract Warming temperatures in the circumpolar north have led to new discussions around climate-driven frontiers for agriculture. In this paper, we situate northern food systems in Canada within the corporate food regime and settler colonialism, and contend that an expansion of the conventional, industrial agriculture paradigm into the Canadian North would have significant socio-cultural and ecological consequences. We propose agroecology as an alternative framework uniquely accordant with northern contexts. In particular, we suggest that there are elements of agroecology that are already being practiced in northern Indigenous communities as part of traditional hunter-gatherer food systems. We present a framework for agroecology in the North and discuss its components of environmental stewardship, economies, knowledge, social dimensions and governance using examples from the Dehcho region, Northwest Territories, Canada. Finally, we discuss several challenges and cautions in creating policy around agroecology in the North and encourage community-based research in developing and testing this framework moving forward. 

/pdf/agroecology-in-the-north-centering-indigenous-food-1k3ii3ob.pdf

Agroecology in the North: Centering Indigenous food sovereignty and land stewardship in agriculture “frontiers”

Farm soil tests are common decision support tools employed by regulatory agencies and farmers to manage nutrients in an economical and environmentally sustainable way. The complex interplay between...

/pdf/understanding-soil-fertility-status-in-newfoundland-from-a5rbfk9ofo.pdf

Understanding soil fertility status in Newfoundland from standard farm soil tests

Climate-driven expansion of northern agriculture must consider permafrost

This paper reports the findings of an ethnographic study that involved working with local organizations, food advocates and communities to develop strategies for expanding the nascent Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada agri-food industry. The NWT represents a unique case study in that the fledging agri-food industry has been recognized for its promise in contributing to the core goals of the transitioning NWT food system. The study is guided by two research questions: 1) How is the promise of the emerging NWT agri-food industry framed within the context of the broader food system? 2) Given this framing of the NWT agri-food industry, how can it contribute to the sustainability of the NWT food system and to the goals of food security, poverty reduction, nutrition, and economic development? Grounded in a food systems approach, we used a correlative, evolutionary SWOT analysis to profile the nascent NWT agri-food industry within the context of the existing NWT food system. Through further thematic analysis, we identify and describe two dominant narratives (agri-food industry business case narrative and agri-food industry implications narrative) and key themes within the narratives based on an adapted food systems framework. The agri-food business case narrative highlights discourse articulating the business or commercial viability for a local agri-food value chain to function, evolve and expand. The agri-food industry implications narrative envisions the ways in which the emerging NWT agri-food industry may interact within the existing NWT food system, highlighting potential environmental, social, cultural and political implications of an expanding commercial-based agri-food value chain. Within the two narratives, certain subcomponents of the NWT agri-food system appear to be more prevalent, including climate, soil, and ecosystems, policy/regulations/governance, socio-cultural norms, knowledge, inputs, finance, production, and consumption. We make policy and practice recommendations for co-designing an agri-food industry that serves the multiple goals of the NWT food system. As an exploratory, descriptive-structural analysis the study provides a critical empirical basis for future in-depth, fully integrated synthesis of the complex social, cultural, economic, political and ecological dynamics shaping Northern food systems in transition.

/pdf/northern-food-systems-in-transition-the-role-of-the-emerging-4ryvysogi8.pdf

Northern Food Systems in Transition: The Role of the Emerging Agri-Food Industry in the Northwest Territories (Canada) Food System

Agriculture in the boreal and Arctic regions is perceived as marginal, low intensity and inadequate to satisfy the needs of local communities, but another perspective is that northern agriculture has untapped potential to increase the local supply of food and even contribute to the global food system. Policies across northern jurisdictions, target the expansion and intensification of agriculture, contextualized for the diverse social settings and market foci in the north. However, the rapid pace of climate change means that traditional methods of adapting cropping systems and developing infrastructure and regulations for this region cannot keep up with environmental changes. Moreover, the anticipated conversion of northern cold-climate natural lands to agriculture risks a loss of up to 76% of the carbon stored in vegetation and soils, leading to further environmental impacts. The sustainable development of northern agriculture requires local solutions supported by locally relevant policies. There is an obvious need for the rapid development of a transdisciplinary, cross-jurisdictional, long-term knowledge development and dissemination program to best serve food needs and an agricultural economy in the boreal and Arctic regions while minimizing the risks to global climate, northern ecosystems and communities.

/pdf/expansion-of-agriculture-in-northern-cold-climate-regions-a-3vkice613f.pdf

Expansion of Agriculture in Northern Cold-Climate Regions: A Cross-Sectoral Perspective on Opportunities and Challenges

Re-utilisation of organic waste	is globally widely	 employed to maximise both economic and environmental	 sustainability of human activities. Re-utilisation	 of organic waste nutrients of biochars produced	from	 such wastes do offer a critical	element	for enhancing	soil fertility and thus supporting sustainable agriculture. Newfoundland and Labrador produces a variety of organic waste streams ranging from municipal to	farm, fishery and timber production. We carried out a	best estimate of the amount of these waste streams with a goal to	 understand the potential utility of each as a source of nutrients or biochar for sustaining agricultural activities in the province.
Municipal sources, i.e.	municipal organic waste	streams	 and wastewaters, and fishery waste were	estimated to	 offer the largest potential for	nutrient recovery.		
Dairy industry is the largest producer of nutrient rich	 organic	waste among agricultural activities. The dairy	 industry might possibly	produce most of	the nutrients	 required to fertilise their own	land base; note	that the	 dairies	in the province	still import a significant portion of their feed and that is reflected in the waste	 stream.	Nutrients currently available in the estimated	 waste streams are likely sufficient to support most	 fertilisation needs of the current land-base, or	
nearly double the current land base in the case	of	phosphorus. Given the estimated	balance	of waste	nutrients in the province any expansion	in agricultural	land base would	require	supplementary imports of fertilizers or,	preferably, an integrated livestock	and crop agriculture expansion. A secondary estimation	 was carried out to assess the value of the same organic	
waste streams for biochar production. This offered an	 alternative to nutrient	reutilisation, an alternative	that is	also in support	of soil	fertility. Sawmill	waste,	that carried little nitrogen and phosphorus	value, was also	included in biochar estimates. The	assessment has shown a significant potential for biochar	production mainly for fishery and municipal organic waste. However,	pursuing a biochar agenda for these	 materials would	require	a trade-off with the nutrients	lost during pyrolysis.	
The assessment presented here confirms that organic wastes are a valuable resource for agricultural	production and sustainability. However specific	decisions	
would require a	more detailed analysis of the geographic	 integration of waste streams and agricultural production.

Organic Waste in Newfoundland and Labrador: A Review of Available Agriculture, Fishery, Forestry and Municipal Waste Literature

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Expansion of Agriculture in Northern Cold-Climate Regions: A Cross-Sectoral Perspective on Opportunities and Challenges

Organic Waste in Newfoundland and Labrador: A Review of Available Agriculture, Fishery, Forestry and Municipal Waste Literature