YELLOWKNIFE (October 2, 2015) - Community leaders, Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) program delivery personnel and individuals leading community agricultural and small scale food initiatives in the North Slave Region will come together October 5 - 6 for an Agricultural Awareness and Planning Workshop in Yellowknife.

The two-day training initiative, sponsored by the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment’s (ITI) North Slave Regional office, will provide an opportunity for participants from Wekweeti, Gameti, Lutsel K’e, Whati, Dettah, N'Dilo and Yellowknife to share their growing experiences, challenges and successes - and to add to their individual skills and knowledge base to support even greater growth in their community garden initiatives next summer.

Dr. Stephen C. Brown, Ph.D., District Agriculture Agent at the University of Alaska will lead discussions on subjects such as: plants that work in the NWT; ordering seeds; soil testing, interpretation and amendments; and raising small farm animals.

Participants will also learn more about program and funding supports available through ITI’s regional offices.

“Agriculture is emerging as an increasingly significant sector of local and community economies across our North,” Minister of ITI David Ramsay said.  “Combining government investments with the energy, interest and commitment of NWT residents has served to expand agricultural initiatives into every community in the NWT.  This is not simply gardening, but food production - key and critical to benefiting NWT residents by offering fresh food products, diversifying the local food basket and reducing our dependence on more-costly food products imported from southern Canada.”

Driven mainly by cost shared investments made by the Government of Canada, Department of Agriculture and Agri-foods and the Government of the Northwest Territories under the NWT Economic Opportunities Strategy, the agriculture sector is witnessing growth in interest and output across the NWT.

ITI is also collaborating with the Yellowknife Garden Collective, to provide Yellowknife gardening enthusiasts with an opportunity to meet and learn from Dr. Brown in a full-day Gardening North of 60 presentation featuring a question and answer session Saturday, October 3 at the Tree of Peace.

Media inquiries:

Briony Wright
Senior Communications Officer
Industry, Tourism and Investment
Government of the Northwest Territories
Tel: 867-920-6109
Email: Briony_Wright@gov.nt.ca