CONTEXT

The circumpolar region of Canada experiences high rates of food insecurity due to the harsh climate and terrain and limited infrastructural capacity restricting local production and environmental changes impacting traditional food systems. As such, the region heavily relies on imported commodities which are expensive and of low nutritional quality. Agricultural development has the potential to mitigate circumpolar food insecurity and is underway to various degrees throughout the region, forming a complex and emerging agricultural system.

OBJECTIVE

Using a rapid appraisal of agricultural innovation systems (RAAIS) approach, we studied the status of agricultural development across circumpolar Canada, e.g., Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Nunavik (Quebec) and Nunatsiavut (Newfoundland and Labrador).

METHODS

Forty semi-structured interviews regarding constraints to agricultural development in circumpolar regions were conducted with stakeholders belonging to one or more of the following groups: farmers, government, private sector, non-governmental organizations and individuals in the fields of research and training. Constraints were labeled with a descriptive code, then sorted according to dimensions (biophysical, economic, institutional, political, sociocultural or technological) and structural conditions for innovation. The frequency of each constraint was calculated to determine the weight of constraints by subregion.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

Constraints varied between subregions, indicating that innovations should be subregion-specific and co-developed with local communities to ensure their success and longevity. Circumpolar agriculture was found to be most greatly restricted by economic barriers such as limited capital cost recovery, community buy-in, high operating costs and funding options. Among the four structural conditions for innovation used in RAAIS, constraints were somewhat equally distributed between capabilities and resources, infrastructure and assets, and institutions. At the time the study was undertaken, interaction and collaborations were less restrictive to agricultural development. Suggested strategies for facilitating agricultural development included financial incentives, agricultural training programs, and infrastructure development.

SIGNIFICANCE

To the authors' knowledge, this study is the first to apply AIS approaches to an emergent agricultural system and does so over a large and diverse region. The RAAIS approach effectively identified the numerous constraints to circumpolar agriculture, although the methodology did not account for the interconnectedness of constraints and resultant blocking mechanisms. Future research would benefit from combining AIS approaches with structural-functional analyses to mitigate these constraints and blocking mechanisms.

中文翻译：

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通过创新系统的视角评估加拿大极地农业发展的制约因素

语境

由于恶劣的气候和地形以及限制当地生产和影响传统粮食​​系统的环境变化的基础设施能力有限，加拿大的极地地区粮食不安全率很高。因此，该地区严重依赖昂贵且营养质量低的进口商品。农业发展具有缓解环极粮食不安全的潜力，并在整个地区不同程度地进行，形成了一个复杂的新兴农业系统。

客观的

我们使用农业创新系统快速评估 (RAAIS) 方法研究了加拿大环北极地区的农业发展状况，例如育空地区、西北地区、努纳武特、努纳维克（魁北克）和努纳西亚武特（纽芬兰和拉布拉多）。

方法

对属于以下一个或多个群体的利益相关者进行了 40 次关于极地地区农业发展制约因素的半结构化访谈：农民、政府、私营部门、非政府组织和研究和培训领域的个人。约束被标记为描述性代码，然后根据维度（生物物理、经济、制度、政治、社会文化或技术）和创新的结构条件进行分类。计算每个约束的频率以确定子区域的约束权重。

结果和结论

各次区域之间的制约因素各不相同，这表明创新应该针对次区域并与当地社区共同开发，以确保其成功和持久。发现环极农业受到经济障碍的最大限制，例如有限的资本成本回收、社区认同、高运营成本和资金选择。在 RAAIS 使用的四个创新结构条件中，限制在能力和资源、基础设施和资产以及机构之间的分布有些平均。在进行这项研究时，互动和合作对农业发展的限制较少。促进农业发展的建议战略包括财政激励、农业培训计划和基础设施发展。

意义

据作者所知，这项研究是第一个将 AIS 方法应用于新兴农业系统的研究，并且是在一个大而多样的地区进行的。RAAIS 方法有效地确定了极地农业的众多限制因素，尽管该方法没有考虑限制因素和由此产生的阻碍机制的相互关联性。未来的研究将受益于将 AIS 方法与结构功能分析相结合，以减轻这些约束和阻塞机制。