Canada is facing a serious problem of having fewer farmers stepping up to the challenge of catering to its growing food security needs. As more existing farmers retire, Black Canadian farmers are stepping up to the challenge of confronting the country’s agricultural insecurity.
With the rising threat of tariffs and inflation, more Canadians are turning to food banks. According to the Daily Bread Food Bank, more than three million Canadians visited food banks in 2024 alone. In light of Canada’s agricultural insecurity, a report on Black Food Sovereignty was approved in City Hall. It shows how Black farmers are stepping up in their communities to tackle the food insecurity.
The report urges Canadians to address food insecurity by calling for more space to grow produce and provide sustainable funding for food programs. Also known as the Black Food Sovereignty initiative, it addresses chronic food insecurity in Black communities by aiming to increase access, ownership, and opportunity for locally grown produce in Black-owned farms.
What Black Farmers Are Doing?
The founder of Zawadi Farm, Jessey Njau, aims to tackle food insecurity in Black communities by highlighting several areas where urban farmers could contribute. Njau wrote an open letter to Toronto’s mayor urging the government to start initiatives to prioritize locally grown produce and remove barriers to allow farmers to sell directly to local communities, creating a stronger distribution network.
Njau’s farm serves more than 200 homes through its farm share program. The program collaborates with the Toronto District School Board by sponsoring farmers’ markets, soil stewardship workshops, and community-supported agriculture initiatives.
Cheyenne Sundance, a 23-year-old self-taught farmer, co-founded Sundance Commons; this non-profit initiative provides land, access, training, mentorship, and equipment at no cost to new farmers. Sundance said she started the project to tackle inequalities within agriculture and address food insecurity among marginalized communities. Since starting the program, Sundance has mentored more than fifty individuals. Through various initiatives, she taught individuals the basics of farming. This year, Sundance Harvest will host a farm store at the Mount Forest farm and sell wholesale produce to small grocery stores to raise funds.
People who benefited from Sundance’s program include individuals like Aliyah Fraser, who recently started her own quarter-acre farm, Lucky Bug. Initially, Aliyah was adamant and nervous about starting her own farm, but that all changed after she was introduced to Cheyenne Sundance’s program.
Anan Lololi, cofounder of the Afri-Can Food Basket, believes remarkable strides have been made in Canada’s agricultural scene. After 25 years of working in the food justice system, Anan believes progress has been made in the city’s anti-black racism mandate.
When it started, the Afri-Can Food Basket was a buying club for Canadians in the GTA who wanted to buy produce from the Caribbean. The non-profit has grown to include food advocacy programs on nutrition, agriculture, and food policy.
Many Black communities are recognizing the need to ensure that Black food sovereignty has a place among Canada’s marginalized communities. It’s not that staples from the Caribbean like dasheen, mangoes, Jamaican pumpkin, okra, callaloo, and bitterlemon can’t be grown locally; Canada’s climate enables these staples to grow. The issue at stake is that local Black farmers must expand their harvest.
With more than one million acres of farmland in Ontario alone, Canada has immense potential to expand its farmlands. With Black farmers like the ones above stepping up their game, food insecurity can remarkably decrease, especially in Black households!
David Messiha | Staff Writer