The role of agriculture and food businesses in tackling growing food insecurity among Indigenous peoples
Canada is considered one of the wealthiest economies in the world, recording the 10th largest national GDP in 2023. Despite this fact, food insecurity has remained prevalent nation-wide, and has also trended higher in recent years due to a wide variety of challenges. Most notably, rising food costs attributable to adverse weather conditions, rising input costs, and disruptions in global supply chains have impacted all Canadians. The national prevalence of food insecurity increased by 4.5% between 2021 and 2022 and Indigenous people grapple with the realities of food insecurity at significantly higher rates compared to non-Indigenous people.
The situation is also worsening. At the end of 2022, over a third of the Indigenous population reported varying degrees of food insecurity – 37%, compared to a rate of 23% for the Canadian population overall. It is estimated that almost 50% of households on-reserve are food insecure. And across Canada, households where the primary income earner is Indigenous are nearly twice as likely to be food insecure as households where the main income earner is Caucasian, even after controlling for socio-economic factors like income, source of income, and home ownership.
If food insecurity among Indigenous populations were reduced to a level similar to that of non-Indigenous populations, this would translate into 165,000 fewer food insecure people. Several initiatives and programs have been aimed at closing this gap but have had muted success. The Canadian agriculture and food industry is uniquely positioned to be a catalyst for positive change in this area.
Before outlining the role of agriculture and food businesses, let’s discuss the drivers behind food insecurity among Indigenous peoples.
Why is there such a striking gap?
Significant and persistent socio-economic gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada are well documented. Colonialism; the impacts of intergenerational trauma, discrimination and institutional racism; barriers to education and workforce participation; and the long-term consequences of residential schools have all had inter-generational impacts on the socio-economic status of Indigenous peoples, households and communities.
Indigenous peoples have been stewards and cultivators of the land now known as Canada since long before the arrival of European settlers. But the historic and contemporary impacts of colonial policies have restricted the ability of Indigenous peoples and communities to engage in both traditional and contemporary agriculture and food systems, posing challenges to achieving Food Sovereignty, and generating far reaching negative economic, cultural and health impacts. On average, there is a 65% disparity in median farm operating revenue between Indigenous and non-Indigenous farmers.
Income inequality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples is pronounced. There was an $11,800 (23%) gap in average total yearly income between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in 2022, according to Statistics Canada. Factors including barriers to education and employment and the geographic remoteness of many Indigenous communities have led to less-than favourable employment outcomes such as lower labour force participation and higher unemployment rates.
Given the remoteness of some communities, the price of food is also disproportionately high compared to the rest of the country. High transportation costs and limited food retail options in remote communities can drive up food costs significantly. Generally, food prices are roughly twice as expensive in northern communities, and the impact of food inflation is felt much more severely in those communities.
Bridging the Gap: the Role of the Agriculture and Food Sector
Indigenous food insecurity is a complex and multi-faceted issue, and working to address it requires efforts from actors across the agriculture and food sector. Numerous government programs exist with the goal of improving Indigenous food security through subsidies, emergency funding, infrastructure, and capacity building among Indigenous people. At the community level, across Canada Indigenous peoples are working to revitalize their food systems and share cultural knowledge about their lands and the harvesting and cultivating of traditional foods. It's important to acknowledge and promote these community-led efforts to enhance food sovereignty.
Agriculture and food business owners are uniquely equipped to enhance employment opportunities and income levels for Indigenous people. Where are some opportunities for businesses to improve food security outcomes of Indigenous peoples?
1. Encourage physical and digital rural infrastructure investment
Strengthening rural infrastructure provides an important avenue for economic growth. Physical infrastructure investment generates jobs, strengthens supply chains, provides opportunities for business expansion, and improves access to labour and consumer markets. Digital infrastructure expansion, specifically, increased broadband access, improves rural accessibility to remote education, job training, and employment opportunities. Indigenous communities are often remote. Improving rural infrastructure can play a critical role in improving access to education and labour markets, improving incomes, strengthening food supply chains and improving food access and affordability.
Agriculture and food businesses can advocate for infrastructure investment in and around Indigenous communities, for improved road access, rural transit systems, and broadband access. Your businesses will benefit from improved supply chain efficiency, increased market access, and greater reliability in connectivity.
2. Invest in Indigenous recruitment
Labour shortages are a longstanding challenge across the agriculture and food sector, hindering productivity and growth. Indigenous people are underrepresented across the sector, and represent a significant under-engaged labour pool. Increasing efforts to recruit Indigenous people can help your business meet labour needs, while also increasing job opportunities and incomes for Indigenous people. Improved rural infrastructure will aid in this process.
Several companies, including FCC, have identified that the creation of an Indigenous sales team helps increase market opportunities within Indigenous communities. Increasing Indigenous representation in your business also supports future recruitment and retention of employees.
Increasing opportunities for hybrid and remote working environments for higher paying roles where possible will make these roles more accessible to Indigenous people living in more remote areas. This will increase access to highly motivated professionals, and lower labour training costs.
Businesses of all sizes across Canada – including FCC – have incorporated varying hybrid work models which have supported strong business results and improved employee experiences.
3. Invest in human capital
Invest in skills training for Indigenous staff once recruited. Create clear pathways for career advancement and income growth for Indigenous workers once hired. Promote education and jobs training opportunities in and around Indigenous communities. Once again, improved physical and digital infrastructure can help to facilitate this. Investing in human capital will make it easier for your business to attract and retain talent, on a path to benefit from productivity gains and innovations that come from multi-skilled employees.
4. Invest in Indigenous communities
Current and future expansion plans should look for mutually beneficial opportunities to partner with Indigenous communities. Investing in Indigenous communities, will promote economic development opportunities with the potential to create jobs and improve incomes. At the same time, economic development can have the positive spillover effect of attracting other businesses to the area, stimulating further economic growth in the community.
If, for example, your fields are near an Indigenous community, consider building storage buildings, grading facilities, or maintenance and repair shops within the community. If your food processing business needs warehouse storage, a packing facility, or a retail shop, investigate building within the Indigenous community. This could be a potentially cost-effective means of expansion, opportunity to open new markets, or improve access to labour.
5. Support Indigenous entrepreneurs
Make a commitment to purchase goods and services from Indigenous businesses. Check with local Indigenous business associations for nearby services and keep those businesses in mind when you’re looking for professional services. You could leverage IT services to build and maintain a website for your operation, bring in marketing to boost sales, contract an accountant to help maximize expenditures, or use a local transportation service to save on gas expenses. Using local services could end up being a money-saver for your business.
Supporting Indigenous-owned agriculture and food businesses, especially those operating in Indigenous communities, will boost local food sovereignty and support local job creation, whether the support is through infrastructure, training, or investments. One immediate opportunity for you to consider is your approach to procurement. Creating strategies, like FCC’s Indigenous procurement program increases diversity of thought for your business, supports Indigenous entrepreneurs, and advances economic reconciliation.
6. Seek joint venture opportunities
These types of collaborations may enable you to expand your operations and access new markets, while providing valuable resources, mentorship, and skills training to Indigenous entrepreneurs. Joint ventures can take various forms. Arrangements that are structured to allow the Indigenous co-owner to purchase the company over time support transferring wealth back into Indigenous communities.
Collaborations with Indigenous businesses can enhance your capacity through shared resources, knowledge, and expertise. Indigenous knowledge around local and sustainable food production can enhance innovations around environmental stewardship and sustainability.
Your move
Agriculture and food businesses collaborating with Indigenous communities can boost employment and incomes, and promote equality and inclusivity, while also enhancing profitability. Get to know your Indigenous neighbours and seek out resources on doing business with Indigenous partners. You may find opportunities you previously had not considered. We all have a role to play in building a more equitable and accessible agriculture and food sector for all Canadians, helping to make food insecurity a thing of the past!
Article by: Bethany Lipka, Business Intelligence Analyst and Isaac Kwarteng, Senior Economist