Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** this proposal targets beginning…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** this proposal targets beginning farmer refugees and people of color in the urban areas of tucson (IRC & UACE) and phoenix (spaces of opportunity & UACE) plus indigenous peoples and other limited resource beginning producers in rural areas of northern (flagstaff foodlink & UACE), central (SAN carlos) and southeast (UACE) arizona. 18+ BF refugees, the first of which arrived in tucson in 2017, are growing on .6 of an acre and the UA campus AG center has 3-5 acres plus high tunnels that they can lease through this project to expand their production and markets. Making small-scale agricultural production more economically viable will be addressed by providing education and assistance on bfrdp priority areas of business and entrepreneurship training, innovative land acquisition strategies, basic production practices, diversification and marketing strategies, climate smart agriculture, acquiring AG. Credit and risk management, recordkeeping and food safety, and mentoring. We willdeliver a series of 5 workshop trainings ANNUALLY for 6 locations in AZ that will complement ongoing assistance to beginning farmers provided by nonprofit partners and UACE personnel located in each of the 6 areas. We expect to provide education and assistance to 270 unique beginning producers, very intensively for 50 (daily/weekly assistance), ongoingly for 95 (monthly/quarterly education), and intermittently for 125 (BI-ANNUALLY/ANNUALLY).