Recipient Organization
HMONG AMERICAN FARMERS ASSOCIATION
941 LAFOND AVE WEST STE 100
SAINT PAUL,MN 55104
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
HAFA is, at its core, a social justice organization, started by and are led by members of the immigrant community. We use an intensive organizing approach to work with our members and other farmers in the community to access land, equipment, capital, research and training so that the farmers can improve their farming operations, and thereby, lift themselves and their families out of poverty. There are other beginning farmer training programs that currently exist in MN as well as other states, but none of them have the linguistic and cultural competency, comprehension or capacity of HAFA's. Indeed, one of the core reasons for expanding our programs beyond MN in this grant is that we are constantly getting requests from Hmong farmers outside our area who are seeking farmer training that is appropriate to our culture. Other organizations may hire a single immigrant staff member for the duration of a grant cycle, but HAFA has full time staff members who are bi-lingual, bi-cultural and experienced in farming. Other programs may organize conferences and offer 45 minute training sessions that draw a large number of attendees, but after the conferences, those organizations do not have the resources or programs to deepen or expand the learning. HAFA has the experience and direct connections to long term farmland access, value-added production and marketing opportunities, as well as relationships with educational and financial entities offering expertise, microloans and other financial resources that immigrant farmers can use. Moreover, none of the other programs follow a cohort of farmers and their families literally for years the way HAFA does, both inside the classrooms and on the fields, to make sure that their training programs have the desired result of ultimately benefiting low income, immigrant farmers.HAFA's training programs are unique compared to others in a number of distinct ways:HAFA's beginning farmer training programs was conceptualized and refined over a six year period by Hmong trainers with a strong emphasis on traditional Hmong farming practices integrated with contemporary agricultural methodology. The end result was a curriculum that now includes, per module, a power point, a train the trainer guide, a list of Hmong words and phrases associated with the topic, a series of worksheets to apply the knowledge and short quiz to evaluate the learning;HAFA is membership-based, thus we have a long-term relationship with our constituents and provide them with year round, active, post-training support with in-field demonstration and technical assistance to address their concerns;Lastly, our training curriculum has a strong focus on forming cooperatives to give small farmers more tools and opportunities to be successful through collaborative action.In HAFA's training approach, we begin with an assessment of what immigrant farmers already know, and build on that knowledge. The learning is interactive, culturally presented and uses relevant case studies. Focusing on interactions and one-to-one tutorials we believe yields a much higher rate of participation from minority farmers, a much higher rate of completion from those who do participate in the trainings, as well as a much higher rate of overall success as measured by the increase in farm income and family wealth for training graduates over the long term.The long term goal of this project is to help younger and beginning Hmong farmers to start farming and stay farming in a sustainable manner. This can be achieved by increasing immigrant and second generation farmers' ability to make a successful living from farming while respecting traditional methods of learning and cultural practices. By working simultaneously on building financially viable farming operations while also connecting to multi-cultural Hmong immigrant farming communities, the long term goal of Hmong farmers starting and staying in farming can be achieved. Our plan is to train 480 farmers per year, and increase farm income by 15-20%.
Animal Health Component
33%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
33%
Applied
33%
Developmental
34%
Goals / Objectives
HAFA was created in 2011 to give Hmong farmers in MN a collective and critical voice in conversations around agriculture, food supply chains and wealth creation. The mission of the organization is to advance the economic, social and cultural prosperity of these farmers and their children and grandchildren by focusing on increasing access to land, new markets (to augment farmers markets), capital, credit, research and trainings. Unlike other organizations that may work with Hmongfarmers only once or twice a year at conference workshops, HAFA works year round and has multiple interactions with its committed membership of Hmong farmers. HAFA is the only organization is MN (and the only one we know of in the country) that was founded by and is led by Hmong Americans solely for the purpose of advancing Hmong farmers and their families.Inspired by HAFA, older, non-English speaking Hmong farmers and their partner organizations in several other states have contacted HAFA staff, interested to learn how they could develop a similar training program for themselves. At the same time, young members of the Hmong community whose families chose to not pursue farming upon immigrating to American, are also now wanting to better understand the strong pull of farming in Hmong culture, and explore agriculture as a career. In order to help new (mostly younger Hmong farmers) and beginning (mostly older, non-English speaking) Hmong farmers start farming and stay farming, this proposal plans to simultaneously execute seven training programs annually over the duration of the grant period:First, we will continue to host a comprehensive, year round training program for Hmong farmers in and around the Twin Cities, comprising of nine modules with workshop topics ranging from whole farm planning to maintain farm equipment and tractors. These workshops will be led by our partners from three government and quasi-government entities, including experts from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, the University of MN Extension, and the MN State College and Universities Ridgewater College, as well as two nonprofits with long histories working with immigrant farmers including the Sustainable Farming Association and Organic Farming Works. The workshops will be conducted in the winter and then coupled in the summer with in-the-field tutorials and on-the-farm demonstration projects led by HAFA staff.Second, we seek to develop a new training program aimed at Hmong youth. This will cover many of the same topics as our core planning curriculum, but with the added element of linking farm practices to traditional Hmong culture. What is second nature to elders in the Hmong community is not self-evident to Hmong youth who have not had the opportunity to be raised in a farming tradition. Our specialized curriculum will make these connections in a bi-lingual and bi-cultural manner, introducing a new generation of Hmong Americans to farming. The youth training program will include six distinct training modules, some with classroom hours, and many taking advantage of the real life learning opportunities available during the summer growing season at the HAFA incubator and research farm located adjacent to the Twin Cities.Finally, we will respond to the many requests we have had from potential partner organization across the country and schedule one annual training event each year in five new communities where we have not previously offered our core curriculum of agricultural training. These new training sites are in rural southwestern Minnesota (Walnut Grove) as well as sites in WI, OR and WA. We will offer one element of our core curriculum in each site, in each of the three years: Whole farm planning in year 1; business planning in year 2 and soil health and fertility in year 3, for a total of five additional trainings per year.
Project Methods
HAFA's approach is very intensive and hands-on, based upon a strategy of limited classroom instruction combined with extensive technical assistance and in-the-field training and one-on-one farm management coaching. Our strategy is not simply to adapt others' curricula, but rather creates a holistic approach that is tailored to the situation of our farmers. Since Hmong immigrants farm in family groups, for example, HAFA's training is targeted at the whole family, with elders and young adult children enrolling together in the same class. Because Hmong elders typically have little interaction with the dominant financial system, HAFA training also includes discussion of such issues as credit scores and personal financial statements. Agricultural instruction is combined with business training so farmers start to think of issues such as margin control, and the differing markets for various products. HAFA's training programs also use a cohort model, where the same group of farmers receive training at the same time over a period of years, and in this way build fruitful relationships with each other, as well as with the instructors.HAFA training workshops will include individuals and expert from our partner organizationsfrom the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, the University of MN Extension, and Ridgewater College; as well as Sustainable Farming Association and Organic Farming Works, supplemented by HAFA staff who are bilingual.Soil health and fertility: reviewing how to collect soil samples, read a soil sample report and how to crop map so that one can conduct a judicious cycle of crop rotation.Whole farm planning: this training includes exercises around planning short term and long term goals and thinking about one day accessing land by buying or inheriting;Tractor and farm equipment: this module will explore what to look for when purchasing such items and where, and then how to maintain them for the longest use.Farm business management: an intense exercise on how to create a budget and conduct a breakeven analysis. Farmers learn to calculate the true cost of a product in order to price correctly and not lose money. Reading farm financial statements is also covered.Pests and disease management: Pest identification, cover crops as well as land and water management to minimize disease will also be covered in this module.Post-harvest handling: This module will focus on best practices to washing, rinsing, packaging and storing produce to extend the shelf life, ensuring a high quality crop.Perennials production: this module will cover a variety of perennial crop and best practices to growing and managing each variety, as well as marketability. Crop varieties that will be focus on are: strawberry, raspberry and asparagusEach training workshop, whether conducted formally during in a classroom setting and in an in-field demonstration, which will include a set of pre and post survey to access farmer's increase in knowledge, compile with tranining materials to reference. Every step of the way, farmers will also be assisted by staff during one to one meetign and office hours to supportwith planning and in-field implementation.