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What is niqihaqut?
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Niqihaqut, Our Food
Niqihaqut is a community-led initiative born in Taloyoak to tackle food insecurity among Taloyoarmiut. Due to the high cost of hunting equipment and minimal job opportunities, many low-income families, single parents and Elders have no access to the land and country food. Most of them live hungry and rely on expensive and unhealthy grocery food. Lack of access to country food affects not only our physical health, but also our culture, traditions and social relations.
“Country food is important because without it, I wouldn’t be here today, a whole bunch of us wouldn’t be here today”
- Tad Tulurialik (Youth Guardian)Niqihaqut embraces a new model of social economy and food sovereignty based on the sustainable harvest of wildlife and fish from Aviqtuuq. Luckily, many local hunters still provide for the community and we want to create jobs for them to feed our people. Country food will be processed in a new Food Processing Centre employing local people. The plant will produce ready-to-eat packages distributed in and outside the community at an affordable price.
Niqihaqut is a grassroot initiative steered by a committee made of members from the Taloyoak Umaruliririgut Association (TUA) Elders, youth, and women. Niqihaqut was awarded the 2020 Arctic Inspiration Prize. The money granted is being used to develop the business plan, develop partnerships, train our people, develop the blueprints and build the processing plant.
Community Benefits
Niqihaqut is a not-for-profit organization motivated by the principle of Inuit helping and supporting one another. In the short term, we expect an improvement of food security and nutritional health while contributing to cultural and spiritual aspects of country foods, especially for low-income families.
In the long-term, Niqihaqut seeks to solve the serious problems of food insecurity, acknowledging that we cannot replace the role of imported foods in Inuit communities. We want every family to have access to country food.
“We want healthy food and we want it available”
- Joe Ashevak, Elder
Niqihaqut will:
Create
Create over 15 jobs for Taloyoarmiut: employment and training opportunities as harvesters, processors, clerks, manager, etc.
Reinvest
Reinvest in the community all profits generated by the processing plant supporting local programs such as a young hunters program, intergenerational events, crafting workshops, etc.
Explore
Explore different business opportunities and regional development based on the by-products of harvested animals: tannery, clothing, art and crafts, etc.
Business Plan & Market Development
We built our business plan based on three main criteria: serve local, be affordable and be sustainable. We surveyed 76 households to better understand our local market: challenges to food access, incomes, needs and expectations. We visited other social-oriented businesses in southern Canada to gain experience and develop partnership.
The Food Processing Center
“The Cut and Wrap facility would bring back traditional hunting, the proper way of teaching the young hunters to skin and prepare and butcher animals.”
- Joe Ashevak, ElderThe installation of a Food Processing Center is the cornerstone of Niqihaqut. Located in the heart of our community, it will employ workers who will process raw country foods into ready-to-eat products. We are taking every step to design a building abiding by Nunavut sanitation standards and allowing a hygenic flow of products. We have identified a contractor to build the processing plant, and we have been developing the blueprints.
Once our processing plant is up and running, we will distribute our products in Taloyoak as a priority, and elsewhere in Nunavut when the products are plentiful. In the first three years of our business, we will build capacity and strengthen our experience in food processing. Our long term goal is to diversify our offer in terms of product, create more jobs, and open our market to other territories and provinces (upon satisfying regulations of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency).
Sustainable Harvest Plan
Our team is crafting a Sustainable Harvest Plan anchored in Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit. Elders and hunters were consulted to determine local “quotas’, i.e. the maximum number of animals and fish to harvest for the processing centre per year and season. Our Sustainable Harvest Plan is also informed by the observations and data gathered on caribou, fish, muskox, fish, seal and whale by our local Guardians. The Sustainable Harvest Plan also considers other local hunters who do not wish to sell to the processing center but to keep their catch for their family. Our plan supports the education of the next generation of hunters and to teach sustainable harvesting. Our plan is cautious and conservative as we want to sustain wealthy populations.
“Since Taloyoak has very good wildlife right now, we want to preserve it and eat the right kind of food with a cut and wrap facility.”
- Kunnuk Oleekatalik, women Elder
Learn about how the increasing muskox population impacts Aqviqtuuq's ecosystem and how we plan on mitigating its effects
Muskox