THE ARCTIC AS A FOOD PRODUCING REGION – INTERIM PROGRESS REPORT 2017

Project Title:The Arctic as a Food Producing Region

Report Period:March 2016 to December 2016

SDWG Leads: Norway, Canada, Gwich’inCouncil International, Inuit Circumpolar Council-Canada

Project Leads:Ingrid Kvalvik, Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries and Aquaculture (NOFIMA)

David Natcher, University of Saskatchewan

Collaborators:OlafurReykdal,Matis (Iceland)

SigridurDalmannsdottir, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO)

Rebekka Knudsen, University of Copenhagen

Partners:Amalie Jessen, Greenland Ministry of Fisheries and Hunting

Objective

The objective of this project is to assess the potential for increased production and added value of food from the Arctic, with the overarching aim of improving food security, and enhancing the social and economic conditions of Arctic communities.

Progress to Date

Since being approved in March 2016 during the AC-SDWG meeting in Barrow, Alaska, the project has made positive, though slightly uneven progress. To date,as circumpolar-wide interest in the project continues to grow, the European collaborators are still in the process of securing project funding. The European research teams are actively pursuing thisfunding, with an application currently under review by the Northern Periphery Programme (NPA). An award announcement will be made in February 2017. Until funds are secured incremental progressis expected to be made in those regions.

In Canada, project funding has been secured from the University of Saskatchewan’s Global Institute for Food Security. These funds have enabled some progress to be made on the Canadian milestones of the project. Those milestones include:

Milestone 1 - Regional and national inventories of commercial food producers have been compiled. The inventory includes over 315 value chain actors, including producers, processors, transportation services, and wholesalers. Local food producing initiatives such as community gardens, greenhouses, and ‘healthy food basket’ programs have also been recorded. In addition to recording the location and regional differences in food production, we are also recording the volumes, margins, and number of actors involved. For example, the major commercial fisheries in Nunavut are Greenland halibut, shrimp (Northern Shrimp and Striped Shrimp), Arctic char, and turbot. The Cumberland Sound inshore turbot fishery alone, which is managed under the terms of Nunavut Land Clams Agreement, produces on average 292t of inshore turbot annually. This offload is managed bythe community of Pangnirtung (population 1,325), andyields an estimated local value of $1.4 million annually. Similar data are being compiled for all regions and all food producing industries in northern Canada. Those data are being mapped (Figure 1) and once compiled will be made available through an interactive mapping program hosted by the Inuit Circumpolar Council, Canada.

Milestone 2 - Project Launch held during the Circumpolar Agriculture Conference in Reykjavik, Iceland (October 6). Those in attendance included: Ingrid Kvalvik, (NOFIMA); David Natcher and Karen Tanino (University of Saskatchewan); Rebekka Knudsen (University of Denmark); OlafurReykdal(Matis); SigridurDalmannsdottir and EivindUleberg (NIBIO); Bjørg Helen Nøstvold and Rune Rødbotten (Nofima), Amalie Jessen (Government of Greenland); Anthony McDermott(Indigenous and NorthernAffairsCanada).

Milestone 3 – Meaningful Engagement with Indigenous Permanent Participants. The first of several In-Person Consultation Meetings was held with the Inuit Circumpolar Council, in Ottawa, October 26, 2016.

Remaining Work to be completed

Research Activities for 2017 will be facilitated through funding provided by the Circumpolar Affairs Directorate of the Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. Funds are expected to be received in January 2017, and will be used to achieve several project milestones.

Milestone 4 – Value Chain Analysis: Based on the inventory of northern food producers, together with consultations with the Canadian Indigenous PP partners, we will select a number of representative case studies from across the Canadian north where we will examine the nature and scope of their existing food value chains. In particular, we will examine the challenges and opportunities for establishing pan-Northern food production/distribution. Value chains encompass a series of inter-related actors in a food system, from food producers (e.g.,wild food harvesters), food processors, distributors, and retailers. Using a case study approach we will examine: (i) how their value chains are currently structured and the nature of the value chain relationships; (ii) what is working well – key success factors; (iii), what is not working well – key challenges; (iv) lessons for further development of new value chain systems. These case-studies will include commercial food producers operating in all northern territories (Yukon, NWT, and Nunavut) and provinces (Nunavik, Labrador) with food products ranging from chicken eggs to char, turbot, caribou, and muskox. Potential case-studies include:

  • Torngat Fish Producers (Labrador)
  • Nataaqnaq Fisheries (Nunavut)
  • Polar Egg (Northwest Territories)
  • Kitikmeot Foods (Nunavut)
  • Baffin Fisheries (Nunavut)
  • Icy Water Arctic Char (Yukon)
  • Qikiqtaaluk Fisheries Corp (Nunavut)
  • Pangnirtung Fisheries (Nunavut)
  • Arctic Fishery Alliance (Nunavut)
  • Kivalliq Arctic Foods (Nunavut)
  • Papiruq Fisheries (Nunavut)
  • UNAAQ Fisheries (Nunavik)

Milestone 5 - Legal Analysisof Commercial Food Production: Under the direction of Nigel Banks (University of Calgary) a legal analysis of northern commercial food production will be conducted. This project component will examinethe role of law in facilitating (or impeding) local food production for local consumption and\or in north\north or north south trade. The research will address both national and international legal norms (trade law, Migratory Bird Treaty etc).

Other Planned Activities for 2017

-Project meeting with Canadian Indigenous PermanentParticipantsand Canadian Research Team, Whitehorse, Yukon, January 29-30, 2017. This 2-day meeting will be used to: 1) Engage PP members at the outset of the project to ensure their views, interests, and unique insights inform the conduct of the research; 2) Identify and agree on a Terms of Reference for a Canadian PP Advisory Committee; 3) Review the proposed Research Activities; 4) Develop a funding proposal to support the continued involvement of PPs and PP Advisory Committee.

-Special Session at the International Congress of Arctic Social Science (ICASS IX), June 8-12. Session Description: Food producers in Arctic regions are often faced with challenging environmental conditions, poor and/or costly infrastructure, limited entrepreneurial capacity, and long distances to export markets. Climate change is also creating additional uncertainties for commercial and subsistence food production systems. This session invites papers that examine the status and potential development of various food production systems in the Arctic. Papers can address food production opportunities that may lead to sustained economic development for Arctic communities, initiatives that are being used to establishmore sustainable local food systems, and the cultural and legal tensions that may exist when wildlife resources gain commercial value.

-AMAP International Science Conference April 2017 (TBC). An abstract for a potential session on the Arctic as a Food Producing Region project has been submitted to the selection committee.

-Continue to seek project partnerships and build the research network. Representatives from a number ofadditional Arctic states and Permanent Participant organizations have expressed interest in participating in the project and these discussions are ongoing. Project leaders continue to encourage broad circumpolar participation in this important research.

Anticipated Policy-Relevant Recommendations

The outputs generated from this research will yield benefits for the food industries and communities across the Arctic. Knowledge from the study about how climate change, market conditions, industry structure, public policy, and social conditions affect the prospect for developing the Arctic as a food producing region will be useful for policy making, research and business development alike. Increased harvesting and production of marine, agricultural and wildlife resources that are produced and sold locally can also contribute to food security and social and economic development in local communities.

Anticipated Obstacles in Completing the Project by Deadline

Secure funding for the European partners will continue to be the greatest challenge to achieving the truly circumpolar objectives of this project.

Anticipated Work that will continue into the Next Chairmanship

Due to the delay in securing project funds we anticipate our Year-3 research to extend into the term of the Finnish Chairmanship and be a deliverable for 2019.

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