Local Action with International Connections 

By: Tracey Arial, CAUS Non-profit Food Cooperative

In the past decade, most of my life has taken place less than five kilometers from home, and yet, during this period, I think I’ve met more people from around the world than I ever did as a journalist or travel industry employee. 

I am a co-founder and leader in a local nonprofit solidarity cooperative called Coopérative de solidarité Abondance Urbaine Solidaire, a mouthful that we simply call CAUS (pronounced cause). We co-organize a farmers’ market in Verdun, and through that, I’ve worked with amazing people who have links to Africa, Australia, Asia, Central America, Europe and South America. These small producers use their expertise to create local products with foreign roots, including chocolate, coffee, eggplants, flowers, plants, salsa, seeds, soap and toys. 

Our members have links to people in Afghanistan, China, Japan, Ukraine, and Russia, and we hear about their challenges. They bring friends and relatives from overseas to visit our homesteading hub and community centre Multi-CAUS, which is located in a food desert. They also take tours of our demonstration compost production site and gardens in Grand Potager, a local urban agriculture resource centre in the Verdun municipal greenhouses. Last summer, we hosted visitors from Cameroon, the Czech Republic, and Kenya. 

Visitors learn how we try to strengthen links between city dwellers and farmers in the various regions of Quebec. We share our efforts in encouraging urbanites to cook and grow their food as often as possible and to support ethical local producers to eat well. Together, we talk about the rising cost of food, the challenges of running a local food bank, and how we can make healthy ethical foods more accessible. 

Our visitors share how they run urban agriculture projects in their home countries and together we discuss similar challenges despite disparate cultures and circumstances. How do you help people grow their own food when land is expensive or contaminated, cooking and gardening skills are rare, and delicious local vegetables are undervalued compared to cheap ready-prepared meals regularly promoted by multinationals? 

Now, through some of those amazing connections, I am part of a delegation of urban agriculture experts going to Nairobi, Kenya. This exchange is supported by Rooftops Canada, a Toronto-based nonprofit organization that works to improve housing conditions, build sustainable communities, and develop a shared vision of equitable global development. Rooftops Canada’s Nairobi-based partner, Mazingira Institute, will be hosting our group from January 27th to February 7th, 2025, as part of the Women’s Spaces project.  

This study visit is aimed at promoting cross-learning and exchange between Mazingira Institute, Nairobi City County (municipality), and Canadian urban agriculture, land and housing sector professionals. 

A lot of ideas were sparked from our discussions in Verdun this past October, but the opportunity to see how non-profits handle urban agriculture challenges in Nairobi is so exciting! 

They’ve already shared some videos of the projects we may visit. I’m looking forward to meeting the innovators behind  Gerald and Gladys’ cone gardens, Peter Mburu’s hydroponics and Nancy Wambui’s raised beds. 

We’ve already decided to try cone beds in some of our local volunteer-run gardens next summer, but I’m sure we’ll gain even more ideas when we meet them in person. 

Note: Rooftops Canada is the international program for social and cooperative organizations in Canada and is currently leading the Women’s Spaces project (2022-2027), a five-year initiative in partnership with Global Affairs Canada. Women’s Spaces focuses on advancing women’s equitable rights to and control over land, housing, and livelihoods in urban environments in Angola, Kenya, South Africa and Uganda. Mazingira Institute is the coordinating partner for the Women’s Spaces project in Kenya. This study visit is aimed at exploring the role of municipalities and communities in providing land and other supports for urban food activities, particularly for women and youth.