Non Technical Summary
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 will deliver 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).

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
601	6030	3010	50%
602	1430	3100	25%
111	0210	3010	15%
103	0199	3020	10%

Knowledge Area
601 - Economics of Agricultural Production and Farm Management; 602 - Business Management, Finance, and Taxation; 103 - Management of Saline and Sodic Soils and Salinity; 111 - Conservation and Efficient Use of Water;

Subject Of Investigation
1430 - Greens and leafy vegetables; 0210 - Water resources; 0199 - Soil and land, general; 6030 - The farm as an enterprise;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education; 3010 - Economics; 3100 - Management;

Goals / Objectives
Major goals of this project are to: 1) Provide education to 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, 2) Provide better land access to 18+ BF refugees at IRC through 3-5 acres of land plus high tunnels that will be leased from the UA Campus Ag Center, funded by this project, so they can expand their production and markets, 3) Make small-scale agricultural production more economically viable 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, 4) Deliver 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 through this training with 50 beginning farmers very intensively (daily/weekly assistance), ongoingly for 95 (monthly/quarterly education), and intermittently for 125 (bi-annually/annually), and 5) Building connections and relationships with beginning producers to established producers in their respective regions.

Project Methods
A key methodology for this project is the recruitment strategies for our proposed in-person trainings. To this end, we have identified beginning producer audiences that are already essentially "captive audiences" with the refugess at IRC-Tucson, POC working at SOO's icubator farm, and nearby beginning farmers working with Flagstaff Foodlink (see letters of commitment). Many of these BFs have been farming for 2-6 years. However, we will still recruit all BFRs using established listserves, social media sites, and posting flyers at agricultural outlets like Tractor Supply Stores. Newpaper ads and local radio stations will also be taken out as determined appropriate for an area. UACE county and tribal agents will rely on established listserves, social media sites, posting of flyers at chapter houses and agricultural businesses along with relevant public media. Having a history of conducting BFR classes, we can advertise through other non-profits we have partnered with in the past (e.g., Future Forward Foundation) to connect with producers that have been farming for more than 6 years. For individuals wanting to start farming or ranching, UACE receives a steady inflow of calls from these individuals that are contacting their local extension office for information and assistance.Partnerships are also a critical methodological component of our proposal. The relationships and arrangements that are made through this project will be very valuable and we will work to sustain these working relationships beyond the project period. While we can't speculate on University policies, we believe that good public support will exist for allowing the refugees at IRC-Tucson to continue farming the land at UA-CAC after the project is over. A combination of lease payments through donors, BF generated profits, and other IRC-Tucson projects plus connections with the Tucson Village Farm will likely keep this land lease arrangement going into the future. Funding for this project will serve as a catalyst to get everything in place and working with the refugees farming at UA-CAC and displaying this activity through appropriate announcements and signage will greatly help this relationship and land lease agreement to continue into the future. Another critical component of our proposal is connecting and networking BFRs with those in their region that are more experienced. Getting BFRs connected with other more experienced producers that can serve as mentors for them will be invaluable for our project, and the continuation of these relationships after our project is over makes them even more lasting and valuable. Connections that are made with BFRs to campus experts that conduct trainings, will also be very valuable to these BFRs going forward. Knowing and listening to a presentation from someone who is one of UA's resident experts on say Food Safety or Business Plans will help these beginning producers get in touch with the right expert well after the project is over. The videos that are uploaded from hybrid trainings will also be a good resource for these and other BFRs going forward.