New Program Aims to Help Socially Disadvantaged Ag Producers Access Capital

The Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA) and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) Foundation have partnered to create the CDFA-NASDA Foundation Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Access to Capital Program in response to the USDA Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement 2501 Grant Program.

The program will assist socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers in building successful operations by accessing sustainable business capital. The program will do so by developing a culturally significant educational curriculum that teaches agricultural finance in relatable and meaningful terms. CDFA will build on the organization’s 40-year leadership of the development finance industry, along with the experience of our strategic partners at the NASDA Foundation, to provide specialized assistance to rural communities and a transferable toolkit to communities nationwide. Through this combination of expertise and collaboration, the CDFA-NASDA Foundation Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Access to Capital Program will help rural communities understand the myriad of financing programs available to invest in socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers and develop long-term access to capital programs and strategies.

The CDFA-NASDA Foundation Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers Access to Capital Program will achieve the following outcomes:

• Increase investment in rural communities through a multi-disciplinary set of technical assistance activities such as, assembling financing, leveraging private capital, improving deal-making, and applying for federal funding.
• Create two Project Response Teams for the pre-selected pilot communities in Minnesota and New Mexico.
• Offer practical and hands-on support through on-site technical assistance from a dedicated team of development finance experts.
• Identify problems and barriers that socially disadvantaged farmers experience when trying to access capital.
• Improve participation among socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers in USDA programs.
• Build relationships between socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers with state development finance agencies and state departments of agriculture along with local, state, and national USDA offices.