Indigenous Food Sovereignty in Canada: Exploring Practices, Intersections, and Lessons for Policy
Date
2021-04-07
Authors
Merriam, Ariel
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Abstract
In the context of ongoing efforts to advance truth and reconciliation and commitments to uphold and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), governments in Canada have increasingly undertaken to engage with Indigenous food sovereignty in policy development. These attempts have been criticized by scholars and activists who cite a lack of adequate engagement with Indigenous peoples and a persistent unwillingness to acknowledge the ongoing impacts of government policy on Indigenous food systems. Given this problem, this project identifies the need to develop an understanding of Indigenous food sovereignty among policy makers that captures: (1) what Indigenous food systems look like and how they interact with policy; (2) barriers and enablers affecting Indigenous food sovereignty; and (3) strategies to advance and support Indigenous food sovereignty.
The objective of this research is therefore to explore the meanings and practices of Indigenous food sovereignty in Canada, including its linkages and intersections with other policy issues, in order to inform the perspectives of policy makers regarding how to recognize and engage with Indigenous food sovereignty.
The primary research question for this project is: How is food sovereignty expressed and
practiced by Indigenous peoples in Canada? Five secondary research questions are also posed to directly explore specific aspects of the nature and context of Indigenous food sovereignty, including: (1) definitions and features; (2) barriers and enablers; (3) benefits; (4) linkages to gender and climate change; and (5) the role of policy and relevant lessons for policy makers.
The methodology used for this project is a systematic review of qualitative evidence, specifically a meta-aggregation of previous research findings. The review process occurred in five stages. First, inclusion criteria were defined to assess studies that appeared during the search process. Second, a comprehensive search strategy was conducted to identify sources of potential relevance, including articles, book chapters, theses and dissertations, and grey literature. A total of 1,517 unique sources were identified through these searches. Third, a two-stage screening process was employed to assess sources against the inclusion criteria defined in the first stage. Seventeen sources representing 16 unique studies were ultimately identified for inclusion in the systematic review. Next, data was collected from each source, including general details on the design of each study, as well as the original findings of previous research. Finally, the data was analyzed using a meta-aggregative approach to synthesis, through which 86 themes from the included studies were aggregated into 16 categories and four synthesized findings.
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Keywords
food sovereignty, Indigenous food sovereignty, systematic review, meta-aggregation