BFRDP Projects

This project is a collaboration of six Maryland organizations: University of Maryland, College Park (UMDCP); University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES); University of Maryland Baltimore, Agriculture Law Education Initiative (ALEI); Farm Alliance of Baltimore (FAB); Black Yield Institute (BYI); Southern Maryland Agriculture Development Commission of the Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland (SMADC). 

Our goal is to alleviate what beginning farmers have told us are two of the biggest barriers to their success: land access and market access. 

In 2022, thanks to USDA-NIFA funding, we were able to expand our efforts to support urban, peri-urban, and historically underserved beginning farmers. Different organizations in our collaborative team taught about market research, legal issues related to leases and land access, and methods of growing and marketing African heritage crops. We launched a new online portal for a one-on-one entrepreneurial coaching program and recruited and trained new coaches. We started building out new online resources for realtors, landowners, and land seekers. We held community convenings and listening sessions to build concensus on urban farmland access and tenure. 

We look forward to building on and expanding this work in 2023.