New Partnership: Accessible Agriculture Project (AAP)

In recognition of International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3), we want to tell you about a new partnership we've joined around accessible agriculture. The Accessible Agriculture Project (AAP) is an emerging project led by the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario (EFAO) in partnership with accessibility expert Chris Lytle, the Centre for Community Based Research, and Heartwood Farm & Cidery. The project aims to close the gap between current agricultural practices and Canada’s commitment to full accessibility by 2040.

This project takes a human rights, food sovereignty, and community-based approach, to pursuing these primary objectives:

I. Strengthen understanding of disability and workforce readiness.

II. Promote inclusive employment pathways.

III. Demonstrate capacity of disabled workers in labour-intensive roles.

IV. Shift the political economy of farming toward inclusion.

On November 14th, 2025, the AAP team hosted a well-attended one-hour webinar with highly engaged EFAO members wherein we shared the broader legal context and rationale for this work, discussed the project plan, and launched a short survey exploring farmers interest in and knowledge of on-farm accessibility issues. You can review the webinar presentation here and access the survey here.

Over the past three years, addressing the systemic oppression and barriers faced by equity deserving groups, including farmers who are Black, Indigenous and people of colour, has become a key part of EFAO’s mission to build resilient ecological farms and grow a strong knowledge-sharing community. To advance equity, diversity and inclusion in the agricultural sector, it is also critical that we work together to remove barriers for people with disabilities.

Working towards an accessible sector through research, planning and demonstration will assist in establishing best-practices that can be built upon at scale.

If you have an questions or are interested in supporting this project, please reach out to CCBR's Senior Researcher, Lisa McMurtry - lisa@communitybasedresearch.ca