Challenged by the historically discriminatory lending practices that inform the lack of diversity and equity in our current agricultural landscape, the mission of Black Farmer Fund is to nurture Black community wealth & health by investing capital...

During this installment of the CDFA Food Systems Finance Webinar Series, we take a deeper look at a method of financing that has been building infrastructure, industry, and agriculture for over a century and explore its applications within the food...

A new report from Croatan Institute highlights how the Soil Wealth Area model can facilitate more investment in regenerative agriculture, enhance conservation, and support resilient rural economies. The report provides specific recommendations for...

CDFA and King County, Washington are excited to announce the completion of a strategic food systems financing plan! CDFA worked with King County to establish a set of recommendations that position the county to be the leader in supporting the...

To help local policymakers, leaders, advocates, researchers, and others understand policy options for communities seeking to increase access to healthy food, the Healthy Food Policy Project (HFPP) developed a framework to show how local...

Linking development finance and food systems can be a daunting undertaking for any community. Research on the current ecosystem of food systems finance has positioned CDFA to identify key strategies for the path ahead in this work. The Food Systems...

During this installment of the CDFA Food Systems Finance Webinar Series, we explore how innovative partnerships are leveraging creative financing approaches to reduce food-related waste along the supply chain.

Regenerative farms rely on small-to-mid scale, aligned infrastructure to process, transport, and market their products. These middle infrastructure businesses help to improve farm income and bolster regional food economies while providing...

The Franklin Templeton Institute, a global investment management organization, released its latest insights paper, “Food innovation: Investing to feed our future,” focusing on the innovation and investments needed to feed a growing global population...

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development and U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) launched a joint resource guide to help community organizations access USDA and EDA resources to build strategies to boost economic...

During this installment of the CDFA Food Systems Finance Webinar Series, speakers discuss opportunities to access capital and leverage federal funds to support new investments in regional infrastructure for food aggregation, processing, storage, and...

Food and agriculture-related businesses are often perceived as too risky for traditional lending approaches, yet CDFA research tells a different story. This report, with loan-level data from over a thousand funds nationwide, demonstrates that food...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is partnering with farmer-serving organizations, such as the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, and its members to better reach and serve an increasingly diverse farmer and rancher constituency for...

During this installment of the CDFA Food Systems Finance Webinar Series, we discussed strategies to expand access to capital for underserved farmers.

The Federal Reserve has created this book to bring together community and economic development researchers, practitioners, philanthropists, and others to showcase the great work happening across this country and to outline a framework for conducting...

This is a USDA resource guide to help people in rural America start and grow businesses, create good-paying jobs in their communities and strengthen America’s economy. The guide features information on how rural entrepreneurs can use USDA and other...

The purpose of the report is to equip value chain actors with innovative financial mechanisms and incentive strategies that can be employed in agricultural sustainability projects to support producers in scaling conservation adoption.

U.S. Department of Agriculture announced that the Department is increasing the maximum loan amount to $400,000 under the Intermediary Relending Program. This change is in accordance with provisions in the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (2018...

Completed in August of 2021, this report offers a snapshot of national trends, and a directory of food systems plans and charters that exist at state and regional levels across the United States (see the directory at the end of this document). It is...

This report describes how three CDFIs drive economic growth in low-income and historically marginalized communities through a model defined by the EFOD Collaborative as Equitable Food Oriented Development (EFOD). EFOD is a development approach that...

America’s rural workforce provides a vital foundation for the nation’s economy. Rural America supplies the nation’s food and energy resources, and the fiber necessary for goods and manufacturing. As USDA continues to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic...

San Diego County Food Vision 2030 holds a unique opportunity to build a better and stronger food system for all San Diegans, one that prioritizes health, sustainability, and justice. This ten-year plan provides our region with a clear pathway to...

The Wichita-Sedgwick County Master Food Plan was created from the energy, hard work, and input of our community. The over-arching goals in this plan are to: foster food system coordination and education; improve access to healthy food; and increase...

The Resilience in New Mexico Agriculture Strategic Plan provides broad recommendations are coupled with specific, actionable strategies. The implementation of this plan is critical to achieving greater agricultural and natural resource resiliency,...

This report from Drexel University's Nowak Metro Finance Lab provides a guide to federal funding in the American Rescue Plan (ARP). The authors place a special emphasis on formula funds received by local anchors, competitive grants, and funds...

This table includes all the federal-to-local funding streams in the American Rescue Plan that reach cities and their residents. It does not include appropriations to Tribal Governments or Agency appropriations focused on program operations at the...

The Plan estimates that additional public and philanthropic investment is needed over the next ten years: approximately $9.7 million in one-time funding and $23.3 million in recurring funding. This level of funding will ensure sufficient land access...

Food Forward NYC is the City’s first ever 10-year food policy plan, laying out an ambitious interagency policy framework to reach a more equitable, sustainable, and healthy food system by 2031. The success of this plan depends on the partnership of...

The federal programs and tools available today to help generate social and economic development in rural communities serve as a reminder of active and broad federal involvement in the 20th century, and the possibilities for federal leadership to...

CDFA released the final publication of the CDFA Food Finance White Paper Series, Advancing Local Food Systems Through Development Finance. This webinar provides an overview of this publication as we review CDFA's framework for expanding traditional...

An investment in food infrastructure will ensure that Native producers have access to reliable markets and the wraparound support services that are so critical to robust food systems. By approaching infrastructure from a new model and linking...

This Interim Report issued by United States Trade Representative and Secretary of the Department of Agriculture identifies key achievements from February to October 2020 in the area of agricultural trade between the United States and China.

The purpose of the report is to highlight opportunities for catalytic capital to advance agricultural conservation, resilience and sustainability. In this report we define catalytic capital as capital intentionally deployed to identify, financially...

This is the sixth and final white paper in a series examining the potential creation of a food systems asset class that supports the market growth of local and regional food systems. This paper presents three replicable strategies for restoring...

Entrepreneurs are a key part of local economies, yet they face many challenges in establishing and growing their enterprises. In the food system, entrepreneurs are working to make their own business successful while often collaborating across the...

During this installment of the CDFA Food Systems Finance Webinar Series, development finance professionals from around the country will describe their strategies for supporting local entrepreneurs in moving their business from idea to execution.

More than 30 USDA grant and loan programs provide support and assistance for local and urban food producers and producer groups. These grant and loan programs may be grouped into several broad program categories, including marketing and promotion;...

Traditional sources of capital ranging from philanthropy to private equity to banking institutions have demonstrated a strong interest in investing in a more diversified, resilient food system. To better understand and capture the capital needs of...

Though challenges exist, there are unprecedented opportunities for U.S. agriculture to collaborate and build on its existing strengths to deliver business value for the sector as a whole while contributing to the sustainable development goals and...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is committed to supporting robust regional food economies across the food chain. This graphic is designed to be a guide for which programs are best suited for different parts of the supply chain.

There are several existing agricultural lender initiatives that can inform the development of lending programs or products for resilient agriculture. This report derives five key lessons from these initiatives, including the need to understand the...

Food can be a powerful tool for revitalization, in terms of both economic growth and improvements to the built environment. Many food-related enterprises are small businesses that keep dollars local and create jobs. Restaurants, farmers’ markets,...

On this installment of the CDFA Food Systems Finance Webinar Series, we will illustrate the many positive impacts that result from financing food systems at a neighborhood scale, with speakers to showcase the versatility of projects and financing...

COVID-19 disrupted nations around the world in 2019 and 2020. It continues to cause death and economic damage in many countries. The changes in lifestyle and measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 have significantly altered economic activity,...

The Columbus & Franklin County Local Food Action Plan provides a framework of common goals and actions that serve to unify residents, schools, community organizations, businesses, and local government in supporting a healthy, strong, and resilient...

The Organic Agriculture Revitalization Strategy (OARS) builds upon the basic insight of this emerging research – that certified organic agriculture can provide not only environmental benefits but also socio-economic benefits, revitalizing rural...

Over the past several years, CDFA has been researching the ways traditional development finance tools can be used to support food-related businesses and projects, leveraging further investment to catalyze local and regional food systems. For the...

For the second installment of the CDFA Food Systems Finance Webinar Series, we will present key initiatives and programs being used to finance local food systems, and how CDFA is continuing to prove the food system as an asset class.

Disasters of all kinds induce stress on small businesses and nonprofits throughout the food system. Farmers, food hubs, restaurants, food processors, grocers, and others throughout the supply chain can be immensely impacted. In today’s global...

During the first installment of the CDFA Food Systems Finance Webinar Series, we will explore creative financing efforts being launched to support our local food economies during this time of unprecedented crisis of COVID-19.