Farmers across Canada are experiencing a severe mental health crisis, a new report has found.
The report, titled Field Notes: Looking upstream at the farmer mental health crisis in Canada, suggests Canadian farmers are facing rates of stress, depression and anxiety much higher than those in the general population. Economic uncertainty and climate change are cited as major factors in the trend.
Urgent, comprehensive action is needed to address the situation, according to the report commissioned by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and the National Farmers Union. Efforts have primarily focused on improving mental health-care access and education and reducing the stigma around mental health, but these measures alone are not adequate to deal with the root causes of the crisis, the report stated.
“As a farmer- and farmworker-led organization, it is us, Canada’s farmers and farmworkers, who are looking for ways to support each other through the challenges of farming and who are working toward solutions to the systemic issues that undermine our mental health,” the National Farmers Union (NFU) said in a statement shared online.
The NFU, a voluntary advocacy-led organization, focuses on developing policies and solutions to address the underlying issues that render farming and farmwork unsustainable, the statement said.
The NFU said it does not provide personal farmer wellness counselling but does acknowledge the various initiatives nationwide that offer counselling services to farmers.
The NFU expressed pride in the October 2023 report and the commitment to advance the well-being of the farming community.
According to the report, economic uncertainty is at the core of the crisis. Firstly, having a small number of firms controlling the food sector has significantly eroded farmers' bargaining power, making them highly susceptible to market fluctuations. Secondly, the consolidation and commercialization of farmland have made it increasingly difficult for small-scale farmers to remain competitive.
“We need to stop individualizing responses to mental health issues and recognize there are systems in place that depress farmer income, prioritize ever-larger-scale farms over human-sized farms, increase climate uncertainties (and therefore, harvest) and hollow out rural communities,” said Zsofia Mendly-Zambo, a PhD candidate in health policy and equity at York University, chair of the NFU’s mental health working group, and lead author of this report.
Addressing the issue of fair compensation for farmers and farmworkers is crucial, she said. Current agricultural support systems often overlook medium- and small-scale producers, jeopardizing food sovereignty. The report highlights that farmers should earn fair profits from their produce rather than seeing them concentrated in corporations and grocery stores.
Mendly-Zambo also stressed the importance of continuing to build rural infrastructure, including bus services, hospitals, and community centres. These are essential for providing safety, health-care access and community support, which contribute to good mental health.
The report also underscores the profound impact climate change — such as extreme weather events — has on farming. Trade liberalization policies have also exposed Canadian farmers to the volatility of global markets, intensifying the economic instability.
Other factors affecting farmers’ mental health were also identified in the report. These include economic and knowledge barriers, heightened political polarization in rural communities, racism, violence against women, burnout, and insufficient access to essential health-care services. Addressing these multifaceted challenges is imperative to improving the mental well-being of Canadian farmers and ensuring the resilience of the agricultural sector, the report said.
The report offers six key recommendations: enhancing economic stability through policy measures, supporting the adoption of sustainable farming practices, promoting food sovereignty for sustainable local food systems, rebuilding rural infrastructure, addressing discrimination and violence in the farming sector, and expanding access to mental health care with inclusivity for all.
Mendly-Zambo emphasized that the report's recommendations aim to make farming more sustainable, inclusive and supportive of farmers' mental health.
She urged policymakers and advocacy groups to prioritize the economic and social well-being of farmers through policies. Focusing solely on GDP growth undermines farming and farmers’ mental health. Addressing issues like racism, exclusion, and violence against women in the agriculture sector is vital for promoting good mental health among farmers, she added.
Mendly-Zambo told Canada's National Observer that farmers and ranchers also need local processing infrastructure, such as abattoirs and retail outlets, to maintain their production capabilities. These aspects should be prioritized for the benefit of the agricultural sector.
The report follows recent research from the University of Guelph that also found the mental health of Canadian farmers has significantly worsened in the last five years. That research, based on responses from nearly 1,200 Canadian farmers between February and May 2021, showed elevated levels of stress, anxiety, depression, emotional exhaustion and cynicism (associated with burnout).
The University of Guelph's research also found thoughts of suicide and reduced resilience were more common among farmers compared to the national average. Shockingly, 76 per cent of farmers reported experiencing moderate to high levels of perceived stress. Suicide ideation was twice as prevalent among farmers in comparison to the general population, with one in four farmers expressing feelings of a life not worth living or thoughts of self-harm over the past year.
According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, in 2021, the agriculture and agri-food system employed 2.1 million people, provided one in nine jobs in Canada and generated $134.9 billion, or around 6.8 per cent of Canada's GDP. That same year, Canada exported nearly $82.2 billion in agriculture and food products, including raw agricultural materials, fish, seafood and processed foods, to more than 200 countries.
This story was produced in partnership with Journalists for Human Rights for the Afghan Journalists-in-Residence program funded by the Meta Journalism Project.
Comments
Nicely written, and on an important topic. As if farmers didn’t have enough to worry about. Congratulations to the NFU for consistently raising the issue.