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July 15, 2021

A major ����vlog����-led applied research project is aiming to help urban farmers tackle one of their biggest problems: how to develop strong and sustainable businesses.

“We’ll be looking at innovative financing methods,” said Dr. West Suhanic, a professor in ����vlog����’s School of Accounting & Financial Services. “What makes our project unique is that we’ll be bringing science, business and sustainability together in one package.”

Armed with a PhD in systems design engineering, Dr. Suhanic will be collaborating with Dr. Lesley Campbell, an associate professor at Ryerson University and an expert in urban agriculture, plant evolution and global climate change. They will lead a team of 12 to 15 ����vlog���� student research assistants and work with community partners Greenest City and .

The project was awarded $360,000 by the and the .

“One of our goals is to work with the local community of urban growers and help them turn ideas into businesses,” Dr. Suhanic said. “We want to help them enhance their operations through better access to knowledge and training.”

Rhonda Teitel-Payne is Co-ordinator for Toronto Urban Growers, which boasts a network of more than 1,000 urban growers and supporters. She says one of the issues urban farmers face is that most of the financial development resources out there are not geared toward their needs.

“There’s training and research for rural and industrial farming, and loans, too, but there’s not that much for urban growers,” she said.

As urban agriculture plays an important role in providing ecological services in urban settings, this program will be designed to incorporate training, mentorship and microfinancing specifically for urban farmers in communities across Canada.

“Personally, I’m very excited about this,” said Dr. Andrew Paton, Research Manager, ����vlog���� Innovation. “Our student research assistants will be interviewing existing and potential urban farmers to identify gaps and gain a better understanding of what is needed for successful urban agriculture.”

Dr. Paton, who has a PhD in chemical engineering and applied chemistry, will be managing the project. He also hopes to see the resulting urban agriculture enterprises helping to address food insecurity and increase access to healthy food in urban communities.

“We want to recruit people who are serious about starting an urban agriculture enterprise,” he said. “We will put them through our training program and help them run a sustainable business growing food closer to home.”