BFRDP Projects

Indigenous Roots Forever: A Business Support Program for Tribal and other Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Beginning Farmers was a one-year collaborative program executed by the Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust in Cranston, RI under the USDA-BFRDP FY2021-2022 Simplified Standard Grants initiative. The project ran through September 1, 2021, to August 31, 2022, and involved collaboration with Global Village Farms in Grafton, Support and outreach focused on historically underserved Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) beginning farmers in Massachusetts, where few educational resources for this population exist.

The project utilized outreach and individualized educational services as well as intensive learning and technical assistance to increase understanding of sound business practices. Thirty-eight beginning BIPOC farmers participated in the program with over twenty showing some gains in business planning and marketing knowledge. Two farms (representing 8 farmers) saw an increase in revenues as a result of implementing this knowledge into their own businesses.