Soul of the Soil, July 3, 2024 [Video]

Soul of the Soil, Rooted in the Future: Cultivating Tomorrow Empowering Change Luncheon

The National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC) has partnered with the Southern University Ag Center aiming to transform the narrative for Black farmers by sowing the seeds of change, harvesting hope, and cultivating a brighter future. As a result, a gathering event for diverse stakeholders (e.g., Black farmers, state, federal and non-profits etc.) was held in New Orleans, Louisiana on July 3, 2024 entitled: “Soul of the Soil, Rooted in the Future: Cultivating Tomorrow Empowering Change Luncheon”. This brief video and written synopsis is a canvas of my experiences at this informative and engaging event.

History

The Problem: According to a study from McKinsey & Company, just 1.4% of farmers identify as Black or mixed race compared with about 14% a century ago. Furthermore, these farmers represent less than 0.5% of total U.S. farm sales. Perhaps, even more disturbing, Black farmers operate at 70% of US peer-level farm revenue.

One Solution: To address this issue and advance agricultural supply chain access for Black individuals, Cargill and NMSDC designed the Acres program. Benefits for participants include strategic business support and skills development including NMSDC-certification assistance and access to funding opportunities.

After an exciting first year, in 2023, Cargill, Walmart, UNFI (United Natural Foods, Inc.) , and Papa Johns all collaboratively supported the expansion of Acres Program that is purposed to cultivate equity in Black Agriculture. The expanded program looks to develop more farmers on an annual basis and consists of two elements: a learning program and strategic business support. For more information about these circles of support, please click: https://lnkd.in/gFYKjAue

The “Soul of the Soil, Rooted in the Future: Cultivating Tomorrow Empowering Change Luncheon” resonated and reverberated with a call to action to black farmers to:

Study the eco-system of farming and develop outcomes, activities and measurements that produce an ROI for your business.

Cultivate advocacy, policy and representation at the City, County, Parrish, State and Federal levels to address the lack of equity and inclusion of Black farmers.

Cultivate financial growth through building:

Character, capacity, capital, conditions and collateral and credit which is what lenders are looking for to evaluate small business borrowers.

Financial Literacy (e.g., proficiency in financial statements: funding access such as USDA and other grants, appraisal and valuation of your land)

Technical proficiency in your business. Get the training and certification needed to become competitive.

Ongoing Technology Literacy (e.g., blockchain distributed ledger technology where all stakeholders in the supply chain can access the same information)

Be aware, assess and create a course of action to the assault on DEI.