Black farmers seem having gotten the harsh end of any stick this century that is past
In 1910, they represented around 14% of U.S. farmers and owned over 16 million acres of land. Today, one in 100 farmers are Black, owning less than 5 million acres and losing $326 billion in land value. Farmers are suing the USDA for alleged discrimination.
VC investment in the agtech space has been booming these past few years, and many farmers also receive some type of subsidized funding, whether from the government or organizations that are nonprofit. These possibilities usually do not be seemingly trickling down seriously to Black creators, nonetheless. Crunchbase discovered that since 2018, $98.6 million away from $39.4 billion went to simply five agtech that is black-owned. This, alongside the government’s alleged discrimination, means that Black farmers have been marginalized from accessing the right financial resources they need to survive in this market that is particular
It Was for these good reasons that in 2017, Karen Washington and Olivia Watkins created the Black Farmer Fund. The fund provides economic and opportunity that is social Ebony farmers and farming and meals companies when you look at the Northeast using the aim of helping develop neighborhood wide range for Ebony farming companies through the area. There are about 703 Black-owned facilities over the Northeast away from 196,000 total, Watkins stated, incorporating that in nyc alone, the Black that is average farmer –$906, while white farmers make around $42,000. “There is a massive wealth that is racial in farming and across companies,” Watkins said.
The investment is theoretically a nonprofit with a debt investment connected. It lifted an oversubscribed $1.1 million pilot investment in 2021 from people and organizations, which after that it spent into eight companies. It’s increasing its fund that is second with target of $20 million and has hit about half that amount so far, Watkins said. As a debt fund, it offers community that is low-interest and funds, composing inspections including $1,000 to $3 million.
