RAFI-USA 2019 Agricultural Reinvestment Fund Grants for Farmers
25+ grants to be awarded to NC farmers for innovative projects
MEDIA CONTACT:
Kelli Dale, RAFI-USA
(919) 542-1396
[email protected]
PITTSBORO, NC, November 20, 2018 — The Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA (RAFI-USA) is now accepting applications for the 2019 Agricultural Reinvestment Fund (ARF) grant program.
With funding support from the North Carolina Tobacco Trust Fund Commission, the ARF grant program provides cost-share grants to entrepreneurial and innovative farmers and collaborative farmer groups to help them develop new sources of agricultural income. The program awards at least 25 grants per year including grants of up to $9,000 to individual farmers and up to $11,000 for collaborative farmer projects located in eligible North Carolina counties. Counties eligible in 2019 are: Alamance, Bertie, Caswell, Chatham, Chowan, Davidson, Davie, Durham, Franklin, Granville, Halifax, Hertford, Northampton, Orange, Person, Randolph, Rowan, Vance, Wake, and Warren.
RAFI-USA initiated the program in 1997, originally known as the Tobacco Communities Reinvestment Fund, to help beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers in historically tobacco-dependent communities transition their farms to become more economically viable. Today, the grant program is dedicated to helping all types of farmers transform and strengthen their farms, enhancing their sustainability and financial viability. In turn, grant recipients are able to demonstrate new and innovative models for farm profitability to other farmers in their communities. The program has funded more than 600 farming projects and distributed more than $6 million to agricultural communities.
The early bird application deadline is November 30, 2018 and the final deadline is 5:00pm EST, January 4, 2019. Applicants are strongly encouraged to apply by the early bird deadline, and those who do so will have the opportunity to receive feedback and resubmit their application by the final deadline. Award notification will occur no later than March 1, 2019.
Visit www.rafiusa.org/grants/apply or download the 2019 ARF grant flyer to learn more about the application process, upcoming information sessions, application submission options, and previously-funded projects.
About the Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA
The Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA mission is to cultivate markets, policies and communities that sustain thriving, socially just, and environmentally sound family farms. RAFI-USA works nationally and internationally, focusing on North Carolina and the southeastern United States. RAFI-USA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Pittsboro, North Carolina and incorporated in 1990.
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