(FOA)-Refugee Agricultural Partnership Program; June 26, 2019

 

Agency

Department of Health and Human Services

Administration for Children and Families

 

Description

The purpose of the RAPP is to encourage the development of agricultural and food systems related services that will improve the livelihoods--physically, economically, and psychosocially--of refugee families resettled in the United States. The RAPP accomplishes this by providing discretionary funds to eligible, non-federal entities that provide agricultural training and opportunities to improve the local food systems for refugees. The RAPP works to complement existing programs (e.g., Electronic Benefits Transfer/Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (EBT/SNAP), Women, Infants and Children (WIC), and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP)) while taking into consideration the unique characteristics of the refugee populations being served such as language, skills, agrarian backgrounds, health, and culture. To this purpose, the objectives of RAPP are: · Increase access to land and other necessary resources for the purpose of farming; · Incorporate relevant refugee cultural backgrounds and allow refugees to use their experience and skills in farming; · Increase refugee knowledge and skills in nutrition and food safety for personal consumption and where relevant, processing for market; · Increase skills in farming and farming safety (e.g., food handling, safe soil amendment practices, farm equipment training, etc.); · Provide farming business development and training opportunities to refugees interested in pursuing farming as a means towards self-sufficiency (e.g., financial literacy training, business planning, farming recordkeeping, etc.); · Increase potential for supplemental income through refugee farming initiatives; · Increase access to healthy and nutritious foods through farming--particularly in urban areas or areas defined as food deserts by USDA (http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/foodesert /); and · Provide psychosocial support for refugees through agricultural activities. Projects will accomplish these objectives by establishing programs that combine the skills of its clients, staff, volunteers, partners, and other resources (e.g., funding from ORR, land, equipment, etc.) to assist refugees towards the program objectives.

 

Announcement Number

HHS-2019-ACF-ORR-ZR-1552

 

Closing Date

June 26, 2019

 

Link to Full Announcement

https://ami.grantsolutions.gov/files/HHS-2019-ACF-ORR-ZR-1552_0.pdf

 

Contact Information

Yimeem Vu

(202) 401-4825

Yimeem.Vu@acf.hhs.gov