Project Partners
Principal partners, including American Farmland Trust, Black Family Land Trust , and The Carrot Project, selected 19 organizations through a competitive application process to create a national cohort of BTA service providers. The principal partners are collaborating closely with the Agricultural Viability Alliance, one of the primary hosts of the National Farm Viability Conference.
American Farmland Trust
American Farmland Trust (AFT) is a national nonprofit organization founded in 1980 to save America’s farms and ranches. AFT created the conservation agriculture movement, which speaks for the land—and for the people who grow our food. Our mission is threefold: to save the land that sustains us by protecting farmland, promoting environmentally sound farming practices, and keeping farmers on the land.
Principle Partner Staff Involved: Cris Coffin, Julia Freedgood, Nathan L’Etoile, Kali McPeters, Courtney Owens
Black Family Land Trust
The Black Family Land Trust (BFLT) is one of the nation’s only conservation land trusts dedicated to the preservation and protection of African-American and other historically underserved landowners’ assets. The BFLT utilizes the core principles of land conservation and land-based community economic development to achieve our goals. We measurably improve the quality of life for landowners by providing families with the tools necessary to make informed, proactive decisions regarding their land and its use. The BFLT works primarily in the Southeastern United States, our programs are intergenerational in their design. We honor the legacy of those stewards of the land that came before us and have faith in those stewards of the land that will come after us.
Principle Partner Staff Involved: Ebonie Alexander, Carrie Martin https://www.bflt.org/who-we-are.html
The Carrot Project
The Carrot Project supports agricultural businesses securing their futures by breaking down financial barriers and building their path to sustainability. We do this as business advisors and through education, advocacy, and research. We work side-by-side with clients to achieve their business goals and thrive long-term. Our personalized services have a long track record of increasing farm profitability, serving start-up, early-stage, expanding, and established farm, food and fishery businesses. We support clients in strategic growth, preparing for a loan or grant application, and coach clients to the right capital for their needs and host the Agricultural Viability Alliance which ensures consistent and equitable access to high quality, culturally competent BTA for farm and food entrepreneurs.
Principle Partner Staff Involved: Benneth Phelps, Jeff Cole and Marina Ortega https://www.thecarrotproject.org/about-us/
HU producers have faced significant barriers to accessing USDA programs and services. while others distrust USDA because of the agency’s history of discrimination. Many need additional time, resources, and support to complete applications. Those who rent most or all of their land often do not qualify for programs requiring ownership, and low-sales operations find it difficult to participate, especially in cost-share programs.
To help overcome these barriers, and to increase the knowledge and skills to grow long-term farm and ranch viability, the principal partners are working with and supporting
AFT convenes the cohort through regular virtual peer-to-peer support meetings and bi-annually through the National Farm Viability Conference.
Meet the Cohort
Africulture
Africulture is a Virginia-based nonprofit that helps farmers improve farming practices to increase their yields, markets, and sustainability. The organization highlights, explores, teaches, and enhances the principles, practices, plants, and people of African descent that have contributed to agriculture, providing outreach and training to racial and ethnic groups in Virginia and throughout the country.
Agriculture and Land-Based Training (ALBA)
ALBA creates opportunities for low-income field laborers through land-
based training in organic farm management, helping them advance their careers or pursue the dream of farm ownership. ALBA’s Farmer Education and Enterprise Development (FEED) project develops the organic farming skills of immigrant farmworkers to support a more equitable and environmentally sustainable agriculture sector.
Black Gold Resourcing LLC
BlackGold Resourcing, LLC is a Texas-based consultancy that assists BIPOC farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners in equitable development, including locating and securing optimal resources for funding, management, and succession planning through strategic outreach programs.
CA Center for Cooperative Development
The California Center for Coop Development (CCCD) promotes cooperatives as a vibrant business model to address the economic and social needs of our communities.
As an 1890 Land Grant university, Central State University Extension encompasses Agriculture teaching, research, and extension. We are focused on identifying and serving underserved and underrepresented populations in Ohio through four program areas: Agriculture and Natural Resources, Community and Economic Development, Family and Consumer Sciences, and 4-H Youth Development. Specifically, for Community and Economic Development, we provide education and technical assistance focused on agriculture and economics in urban and rural communities.
Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF)
CAFF builds sustainable food and farming systems through policy advocacy and on-the-ground programs that create more resilient family farms, communities, and ecosystems. Its Farm to Market program connects farms with businesses, providing growers with a suite of practical services—from food safety assistance to coordinating institutional purchasing—to ensure supply and demand grow together.
Croatan Institute
Croatan Institute is an independent, nonprofit research and action institute whose mission is to build social equity and ecological resilience by leveraging finance to create pathways to a just economy. It works toward change by redirecting finance to support social equity and ecological resilience, making finance more accessible for place-based practitioners and frontline communities, and fostering what we call the “magic in the middle” by working in unique ways between these two pathways.
FarmaSIS
FarmaSIS is an all-Black, all-female, all-organic farming team founded in 2016 by Bonita Clemons. Its core tenets are nourishing solidarity among Black women, cultivating health and wellness, and promoting economic development.
Feast Down East
The mission of Feast Down East is to strengthen the farming communities in and around the Southeastern NC area by providing resources, education, and distribution opportunities to farmers while addressing equitable food access in communities with the greatest need.
Foodshed Capital
Foodshed Capital builds more equitable, regenerative foodsheds. We prioritize lending to borrowers who have historically faced difficulty accessing capital through traditional lenders, particularly low-income, BIPOC, female, immigrant, LGBTQ, or indigenous individuals. We equally prioritize borrowers who use regenerative practices, foster soil health and biodiversity, and produce nutrient-dense, culturally appropriate food for their foodsheds.
Grow NYC
The mission of Grow NYC is to empower all New Yorkers with equitable access to fresh, locally grown food, neighborhood green spaces, opportunities to reduce waste, and care for the environment.
KY Black Farms Association
Kentucky Black Farmers Association advocates for BIPOC farmers and displaced persons in agriculture by creating a solid leadership foundation. We are a liaison for accountability from agriculture agencies and provide minority landowners with education and awareness for equitable economic development.
Kitchen Table Advisors
Kitchen Table Advisors fuels the economic viability of small sustainable farms and ranches through practical business advising and relationship building.
Monte Azul Foundation
Monte Azul is a nonprofit organization with the mission to incubate sustainable agriculture and decentralized renewable energy systems that empower rural communities to build resilient economies in Puerto Rico.
Potlikker Capital
Potlikker Capital is a farm community governed charitable integrated capital fund created to holistically serve BIPOC farmers who operate at the intersection of racial and climate justice. We are committed to preserving and increasing the diversity of America’s farmers, ranchers, and agricultural managers who are increasing equitable access to healthy food for their communities; building wealth and knowledge within their local BIPOC farming communities; and adopting regenerative farming practices.
Southern Farmers Collaborative Group (SFCG)
SFCG promotes cooperative farming in the southeastern U.S. By uniting local farmers, we foster sustainable agricultural practices and shared growth. Together, we cultivate not only crops but a strong community, ensuring quality and integrity from field to table.
Southwest Georgia Project
The mission of the Southwest Georgia Project is to educate, engage, and empower communities. It uses a variety of programs and strategies to advance real social change in Southwest Georgia and beyond. It has three programmatic focus areas: Develop a more accessible and community-oriented food system; increase opportunities for family and historically underserved farms; and build sustainable and just movements to shift social norms.
Toxic Free NC
Our mission is to engage North Carolina in initiatives that advance environmental health and justice by advocating for safe alternatives to harmful pesticides and chemicals.
Virginia State University College of Agriculture
Virginia Cooperative Extension offers a comprehensive collection of resources, programs, and services that are research-proven, accessible, and contain actionable information that supports the success and resilience of individuals and communities throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia and beyond.
Funding
Growing Equity is a 3-year project funded by USDA-NIFA (The National Institute of Food and Agriculture) through the American Rescue Plan Technical Assistance Investment Program (ARPTAI). ARPTAI supports the organizational delivery of technical assistance projects and establishment of BTA networks to improve understanding of and equitable participation in the full range of USDA programs and services among
National Farm Viability Conference
The National Farm Viability Conference is a bi-annual event that focuses on building stronger food systems and making farms more sustainable. The conference brings together professionals from across the country for peer-to-peer learning and networking. The Agricultural Viability Alliance serves as its backbone and continuity organization, coordinating with local hosts.
Agricultural Viability Alliance
Agricultural Viability Alliance business advisors are agricultural professionals working with farm and food business financials in individualized settings. They work with businesses to build resilient businesses, access markets and farmland, execute business transitions, and achieve other goals. In an environment of uneven access, quality, and knowledge, the Alliance’s purpose is to ensure consistent and equitable access to high-quality, culturally competent business technical assistance for farm and food entrepreneurs.
American Rescue Plan Technical Assistance Investment Program
The American Rescue Plan Technical Assistance Investment Program (ARPTAI) is a program to increase participation and understanding of USDA programs and services for underserved farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners. Its goals include:
- Establishing technical assistance networks,
- Supporting technical assistance projects, and
- Providing technical assistance to economically distressed and underserved communities.
The program is funded by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and administered by the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). Growing Equity is one of the ARPTAI cooperators.
