U.S. Farmer Inclusion Program

The Farmer Inclusion Program is N4J’s core U.S. initiative, currently active in North Carolina and Virginia. Through this work, we work with Black, Indigenous, and other farmers of color, to increase access to financial and technical resources for climate resilience, climate mitigation, and regenerative agriculture.

Puedes leer sobre el programa en español aquí.

BIPOC Farmers
0
Acres Converted to Regenerative
0
Distributed to BIPOC Farmers
$ 0
Patrick Brown, program director and 4th generation farmer, tends to his kale crops.

While Black and Indigenous communities have a long history with regenerative agricultural practices, they face some of the highest barriers to maintaining access to their land and to continued investment in these practices on their farms. Historically, Black farmers held almost 25% of farms in North Carolina; now it’s 3%, or less than 1,500 farms. At the same time, with less than 2% of U.S. land farmed as organic (and even less with regenerative or restorative practices), industrial agriculture contributes to an overwhelming amount of climate emissions; habitat loss; soil erosion; and water, land, and air pollution—impacting frontline farming communities.

The Farmer Inclusion Program seeks to increase Black and Indigenous farmers’ access to resources and strengthen climate resilience through social justice approaches and a focus on regenerative agriculture.

What We Do

  • Knowledge Sharing. We facilitate peer-to-peer networks, and we compensate farmers, local subject-matter experts, and local partners for sharing their time, networks, and expertise with us and others.
 
  • For-us-by-us networks. We support practice-based implementing networks that provide and share knowledge, technical resources, and contract-based funding opportunities for regenerative agriculture, climate resilience, and climate mitigation.
 
  • Payments for Regenerative Transitions. As a subgrantee of the USDA’s Partnership for Climate Smart Commodities, we bring funding directly to farmers, allowing them to experiment and expand their regenerative farming practices without the risk.
 
  • Advocacy Capacity. We look to support farmers’ ability to speak collectively or on behalf of other farmers and address discriminatory practices that historically and currently exclude Black, Indigenous, and other farmers of color from accessing existing funding and support.

Our Vision

BIPOC farmers lead the way in a US-wide movement toward regenerative practices. We support 10% of BIPOC farmers in each state we work in.

The historic trend of BIPOC farm land is reversed as the number of BIPOC farmers grow due to ample support, deep community, intergenerational knowledge sharing, and land security.

A self-sufficient network of BIPOC farmers, led by experienced farmers and trusted partners, empowers farmers and shares resources and knowledge.

Let’s Talk About It! Please contact us via this form with questions and comments if you are interested in joining a network or engaging as a subject-matter expert.

The Team

This work is made possible through partnerships with the US Department of Agriculture, Cargill, The Kenan Charitable Trust, The Walmart Foundation, Clif Family Foundation, Patagonia, and other donors.

Resources

The following Resources section includes a collection of U.S. government publications, news articles, scholarly publications, and listings of Black farmers and relevant markets. We will periodically update this collection. You can also read more about our approach to this important issue in this this blog post.

Resources