Rural american communities face population loss, grocery store closures, inadequate and expensive health and elder care, loss of economic opportunity, unemployment and more

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded the Cooperative Development Foundation $999,999.88 on September 30, 2025, under the Rural Cooperative Development Grants program (CFDA 10.771).

The Foundation will provide training and technical assistance to start, expand, or improve rural cooperatives with a focus on food and home care services. The work includes equipping the rural workforce with skills and resources to launch, manage, and govern cooperative businesses, and building the capacity of cooperative developers to meet rural community needs. The Foundation will execute this work through nine co-op development partner organizations.

Performance runs through December 31, 2026, with work performed in Washington, DC. The program supports rural economic development by addressing population loss, grocery store closures, inadequate health and elder care services, and limited economic opportunity in rural areas.

And many rural youth are no longer interested in pursuing careers on the farms they grew up on. Cooperatives offer a pathway for farmers, ranchers and rural community members to work together to build local economies that allow them to thrive. The cooperative development foundation and our nine CO-OP development partners will use past and new research on the CO-OP model to improve economic conditions in rural areas by: 1) providing training and technical assistance to start, expand, or improve rural CO-OPS, with a focus on food and home care; 2) equipping the rural workforce of today and tomorrow with skills and resources to launch, manage and govern cooperative businesses; and 3) building the capacity of CO-OP developers to meet rural needs. Our project will help rural residents and businesses build the future of agriculture and ensure access to critical goods and services in america's heartland.