National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

Supporting the economic and environmental sustainability of agriculture, natural resources, and rural communities.

NSAC's Blog

Grant Opportunity: Community Outreach and Assistance for Risk Management

Today’s federal register announced the availability of $2.5 million in grants for the Risk Management Agency’s (RMA) Community Outreach and Assistance Partnership Program and $1.1 million for Commodity Partnerships for Small Agricultural Risk Management Education Sessions.

The Community Outreach and Assistance Partnership Program targets limited resource, socially disadvantaged and other traditionally underserved producers with training, informational opportunities and assistance to understand risk management tools including crop insurance and forward contracts, as well as broader risk management topics such as crop and enterprise diversification, conservation planning, new and value-added markets, debt reduction, and asset building strategies.

In 2010 the Risk Management Agency (RMA) has expanded the scope of risk management projects it will fund to include Farm to School, Food Safety and addressing Food Deserts (areas underserved by food retailers) with products from small farmers and ranchers.

The awards are unique in that recipients work closely with the Risk Management Agency (RMA) to deliver outreach and assistance in their geographical area.

Applications are due by April 15, 2010 and awards will be made by September 30, 2010.

Read the full RFA here. To apply, complete the full application packet, available online and mail to the address listed in the RFA, or visit Grants.gov to apply online (as of 4pm EST 3/1/10 the application is still not listed in Grants.gov).  If you want to use grants.gov register as soon as possible as the process can take several weeks and do not submit your application online at the last minute as the system has been known to crash.

For further information, contact:

  • Jacquea Howard-Brock, Outreach Specialist, 202-690-1518, jacquea.howard-brock@rma.usda.gov
  • Michelle Wert, Management and Program Analyst, 202-690-1687, michelle.wert@rma.usda.gov
  • Ron Brown, Outreach Specialist, 919-875-4896, ron.brown@rma.usda.gov; or
  • Rudy Perez, Outreach Specialist, 530-792-5875, cell:202-230-1606, rudy.perez@rma.usda.gov