The Potential Use of Agroforestry Community Gardens as a Sustainable Import-Substitution Strategy for Enhancing Food Security in Subarctic Ontario, Canada

Nicole F. Spiegelaar, Leonard J.S. Tsuji and Maren Oelbermann
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Nicole F. Spiegelaar: Department of Environment and Resource Studies, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 1G3, Canada
Leonard J.S. Tsuji: Department of Environment and Resource Studies, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 1G3, Canada
Maren Oelbermann: Department of Environment and Resource Studies, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 1G3, Canada

Sustainability, 2013, vol. 5, issue 9, 1-19

Abstract: The high prevalence of food insecurity experienced by northern First Nations partially results from dependence on an expensive import-based food system that typically lacks nutritional quality and further displaces traditional food systems. In the present study, the feasibility of import substitution by Agroforestry Community Gardens (AFCGs) as socio-ecologically and culturally sustainable means of enhancing food security was explored through a case study of Fort Albany First Nation in subarctic Ontario, Canada. Agroforestry is a diverse tree-crop agricultural system that has enhanced food security in the tropics and subtropics. Study sites were selected for long-term agroforestry research to compare Salix spp. (willow)-dominated AFCG plots to a “no tree” control plot in Fort Albany. Initial soil and vegetative analysis revealed a high capacity for all sites to support mixed produce with noted modifications, as well as potential competitive and beneficial willow-crop interactions. It is anticipated that inclusion of willow trees will enhance the long-term productive capacity of the AFCG test plots. As an adaptable and dynamic system, AFCGs have potential to act as a more reliable local agrarian system and a refuge for culturally significant plants in high-latitude First Nation socio-ecological systems, which are particularly vulnerable to rapid cultural, climatic, and ecological change.

Keywords: subarctic First Nations; climate change; food security; adaptation; agroforestry; import substitution; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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