Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund

As agriculture in the United States looked toward the twenty-first century, tobacco farmers faced unprecedented pressures. Changes in commodity programs, threats to tobacco markets, and increasing pressures of urbanization combined to strain the ability of farmers to stay in business. RAFI believed that the innovation necessary to face thesechallenges could be found on the farm, in farming communities.

Launched in 1997, RAFI’s Tobacco Communities Project was a four-year effort to support tobacco farmers and rural communities in North Carolina in adjusting to changes in the tobacco economy. Operating primarily in Columbus, Edgecombe, Harnett, Johnston, Pitt, Wake and Wayne counties, this pilot project engaged innovative tobacco farmers and community members working to adjust to reductions in tobacco income and to remain in farming.

The Tobacco Communities Project featured a team approach to agricultural problem solving by bringing together farmers, extension personnel, church members, agricultural scientists, and other members of the farm community. An important demonstration of this approach was our Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund, a competitive cost-share program that supported 17 individual and community demonstration projects that sought to reduce dependence on tobacco income through a variety of production and value-added innovations. For descriptions of the research and demonstration projects, see The Tobacco Communities Project Newsletter August 2000 and Successful Pilot Program to Help Farmers Replace Lost Tobacco Income.

Part of our research effort was an ongoing periodic telephone survey of 1200 eastern North Carolina tobacco growers. The survey asked farmers about their family situation, agricultural production, and attitudes about policy options and the future of the tobacco industry. The survey results helped to identify the barriers that farmers face in developing new sources of income on the farm. For survey findings, see the Summary Report Tobacco Farmer Survey (PDF).

At the conclusion of the Tobacco Communities Project in 2000, RAFI continued to conduct research and to serve as a resource for farmers and communities throughout North Carolina seeking to survive changes in the tobacco world. We also continued to promote the reinvestment fund model as a way for state and private agencies to support agricultural enterprise development in tobacco dependent communities.

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