The Native American Agriculture Fund (NAAF) announces its sixth year of grantmaking and is opening a request for application (RFA) with a pool of $10 million starting on March 1, 2024, and closing on May 1, 2024.  

NAAF is the largest private charitable trust devoted to serving the interests of Native farmers and ranchers through grantmaking in areas of business assistance, agricultural education, technical support, and advocacy services. Since its inception in 2018, NAAF has funded approximately $67,000,000 in grants from 2019-2023 to Tribes, Non-Profits, Educational Institutions, and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs). A portion of the funding will be available for special focus areas, including climate and regenerative agricultural practices and additional CDFI and Native CDFI support. NAAF will host five webinars throughout the open application period to provide technical assistance to applicants concerning the application process and eligibility. All the details about the RFA and webinar registration can be found on the NAAF website. 

“Since its inception, NAAF has made impactful investments to support tribal governments, education institutions, non-profits, and Community Development Financial Institutions, and we have learned what it takes to design the best program for the greatest impact,” says NAAF CEO Toni Stanger-McLaughlin. “This year, we have heard from producers and our grantees that there is a need for capital that can be allocated to adaptive and mitigative strategies for climate-related impacts on agricultural practices.  By investing in these focus areas, the funding aims to equip Native producers with the necessary capital to implement practices that enhance their production but also revitalize long-term sustainability of the land and food systems.” 

For the first time in NAAF’s grant-making cycle, special focus area funding will be available to CDFIs and Native CDFIs that serve as invaluable capital resources for Native producers. “NAAF is bolstering our support of CDFIs, which play a pivotal role in providing direct lending to agricultural producers. Our approach to grant-making is rooted in our commitment to leveraging capital that fosters systemic solutions to barriers accessing capital and driving sustainable change in the agricultural sector,” says Stanger-McLaughlin.  

NAAF’s request for funding application information can be found at www.NativeAmericanAgricultureFund.org.  

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About the Native American Agriculture Fund:

The Native American Agriculture Fund (NAAF) provides grants to eligible organizations for business assistance, agricultural education, technical support, and advocacy services to support Native farmers and ranchers. The charitable trust was created by the settlement of the landmark Keepseagle v. Vilsack class-action lawsuit. NAAF is the largest philanthropic organization devoted solely to serving the Native American farming and ranching community.