Small Farms Research Center Receives NIFA Grant
Serving a Three-State Region
The Small Farms Research Center (SFRC) based at Alabama A&M University has received some $545,228 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) to continue its work of educating and empowering socially disadvantaged, new and beginning farmers. The grant impacts farmers on Food Safety Moderation Act (FSMA) programs in rural Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi through August 2024. The monies are part of $10 million allotted through 21 grants awarded nationally.
SFRC will execute the program with the collaboration of Extension programs at Alcorn State University (Miss.) and Fort Valley State University (Ga.).
The FSMA training program will assist in providing a practical program vital for the success of small farmers’ operation. With the many racial and economic barriers faced by limited socially disadvantaged minority farmers, this project will be implemented through experimental learning by providing hands-on food safety demonstration, computer literacy training, local farm field workshop all strategically located in rural communities.
Through this project, AAMU and collaborators will educate and train yearly small, limited resource socially disadvantaged farmers, new and beginning producers, and veterans directly and indirectly promoting food safety from farm to table programs.
Funding also will allow facilitators to host an Annual State-Wide Advance FSMA Conference in each of the three states. For additional information, contact E’licia L. Chaverest, assistant director, SFRC, at (256) 372-4958 or e-mail elicia.chaverest@aamu.edu.
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Caption: AAMU Small Farms Research Center is looking forward to utilizing this Mobile Farm Innovation Center to assist with these outreach effort. The experimental learning outreach program will be executed with the collaboration of Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Alcorn State University Extension Program and Fort Valley State University. The Food Safety Moderation Act (FSMA) training program will assist in providing a practical program vital for the success of small farmers’ operation.