Community Oriented Opportunities for Learning (C.O.O.L.™) Central Mississippi Farming Project

Recipient Organization
SR1
369 TOWNE CENTER BOULEVARD SUITE A
RIDGELAND,MS 391574833

Performing Department
(N/A)

Non Technical Summary
TheCommunity Oriented Opportunities for Learning (C.O.O.L.™) Central Mississippi Farming Projectwill address the disproportionate lack of African-American and Latino certified organic farm ownership in Mississippi. As cited by the USDA's Agriculture Census, Mississippi reports less than 1 percent organic farmer ownership among African American and Latino farmers.Agricultural studies highlightthat it can be difficult to transition to organic for any farmer, and beginning and socially-disadvantaged (i.e. African American and Latino) farmers face even more difficulty based on discriminatory practices and economic hardships that make mentoring and technical assistance hard to acquire.SR1's goal is to use conduct a needs assessment among farmers to build the foundation fortheC.O.O.L.™ Central Mississippi Farming Projectin which an action plan will be developed to educate and train 70 beginning and socially-disadvantaged rural farmers (BSDFs).TheC.O.O.L.™Central Mississippi Farming Projectwill contribute to a vital body of knowledge needed by not only beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers, but all farmers.

Animal Health Component

15%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

70%

Applied

15%

Developmental

15%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
601	1499	3020	100%

Knowledge Area
601 - Economics of Agricultural Production and Farm Management;

Subject Of Investigation
1499 - Vegetables, general/other;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;

Keywords

Goals / Objectives
TheC.O.O.L.™Central Mississippi Farming Project'sgoal is to develop an action plan that willenable beginning and socially-disadvantaged farmers to launch, incubate and sustain independent organic farm businesses.Project Goal:Develop an action plan that willenable beginning and socially-disadvantaged farmers to launch, incubate and sustain independent organic farm businesses.Objective 1:By October 1, 2020,assess 80 BSD farmers readiness to plan, launch, and sustain an organic farm and identify obstacles and gapsObjective 2: By October 15, 2020, form a collaborative team of15 stakeholdersObjective 3. By December 15, 2020, develop a comprehensive action plan to assist BSD farmers plan, launch, and sustain an organic farmObjective 4. By February 15, 2021, pilot-test program services with at least 10 BSDF farmers

Project Methods
Efforts:Conduct outreach to farmersConduct needs assessmentDevelop and utilize collaborative teamDesign &Implement action planPilot test C.O.O.L. Farming Course (CFC) (classroom instructions and filed-based training)Evaluate program servicesEvaluationSR1 will employ a simplified approach under the proposed project, focusing on measurable outcomes which reflect program success through farmer growth and development.Intake data will be tracked- such as age, gender, ethnicity, language abilities, income, etc.- to describe program participants and provide baseline economic data. We will also track select outputs- such as the number of workshops held, farmers attending and pilot testing farmers served, etc.- to gauge the level of participation. The system will focus on the outcome metrics.The proposedoutcomes will be derived through a number of methods which require active farmer participation and reinforce their business skills development.

Progress 09/01/20 to 08/31/21

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience reached during the project preriod consisted of African-Americanand Latino farmers who were beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers in central Mississippi. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?BSD farmers were provided access to educational resources and given field experience to improve the lack of knowledge identified during the readiness assessment. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated to the collaborative team,BSD farmers, and the community through onlinepresentations. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?This is the final report, so there willnot be a next reporting period.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The Community Oriented Opportunities for Learning (C.O.O.L.) Central Mississippi Farming Project worked with African American and Latino beginning and socially-disadvantaged (BSD) farmers to address the disproportionate number of organic farm ownership by BSD farmers. Agricultural studies have highlighted that difficulties exist intransitioning toorganic farmingfor anyone, andAfrican American and Latino beginning and socially-disadvantagedfarmers face even more difficultybased on discriminatory practices and economic hardships that make mentoring and technical assistance hard to acquire. BSD farmers' readiness assessment to plan, launch, and sustain an organic farm identified little to limited knowledge among the target population with few to no available resources. A collaborative team of 17stakeholders consisting of agriculture professionals, private businesses, financial professionals, BSD farmers, institutions of higher learning, and community-based organizations worked to develop anaction plan tosupport BSD farmers based on the assessed readiness. Resources such as Farmanswers.org were used. Ten BSD farmers were identified to participate in a pilotbasededucational assistance program to properly prepare to launch, incubate, and sustain a farm.

Publications