Rooting Wealth that Sticks! Little Rock, Arkansas
October, 2013
Introduce The Deep South Wealth Creation Network
Provide a brief overview of the
Value Chains & Forms of Wealth Provide an Overview of the Alabama/
Mississippi Value Chain Project
Alabama Partners
Mississippi Partners
Alabama Sustainable Agriculture Network (ASAN)
National Wildlife Federation
Perry County Center for Economic Development
The Cottage House
The United Christian Community Association
Children’s Defense Fund
Mississippi Action for Community Education
Quitman County Development Organization
Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative
Winston County Cooperative
Mileston Cooperative
Tougaloo College
Supporting Partners
• McIntosh SEED
• Rural Support Partners
Funding Partners
• Ford Foundation
• Yellow Wood Associates
• Center for Rural Entrepreneurship
DEEP SOUTH WEALTH CREATION NETWORK
Accompanying Issues
Rural Mississippi: 25.8%
Rural Alabama: 21.8%
2010. USDA Economic Research Service
Apathy
Low Education Rates
Low Ranking on the Human Development Index
Limited History of Collaboration
Systemic Racism
Exodus of Youth
Depopulation
Entrenched Poverty
Systemic racism - still prevalent in many formal systems, institutions, and policies – is the underlying cause of many of these issues. It continues to hinder economic development efforts in the Deep South.
.
Nationwide, 1.3% of farm operators in the US are African-American ̶ specifically, 32,938 African-American operated farms.
Mississippi and Alabama are home to 25% of these farms.
“Land Rich but Cash Poor!”
Source
USDA 2007 Census of Agriculture
Mississippi Alabama
Total African
American Total
African American
Total # of Farms 41,959 5,409 48,753 2,789
Average Farm Size 273 acres 113 acres 185 acres 105 acres
% of Farms that earn less than $2,500 in annual sales
53% 56% 46% 53%
Potential
Minority farmers still own substantial amounts of land
Many have much more capacity on the supply side
A robust agricultural supply chain could serve markets both inside and outside the Delta
Some minority (and many white) farmers already export crops and value-added products to corporations (e.g., Mars)
If organized, producers could capture more substantial regulated market opportunities.
Anticipated Results
1. Increase income for all farmers
2. Increase income for low-wealth minority farmers,
3. Capitalize on the increase in statewide vegetable and fruit production
4. Improve, connect and fully utilize existing built capital
5. Increase financial capital within the region.
Implementation Plan
1. Utilize a systems approach to economic development. Use value chains as the vehicle to generate multiple forms of wealth.
2. Assess, plan, and measure the development of value chains by focusing on increasing the eight forms of capital, local ownership and control, and low-income livelihoods ̶ the aim of WealthWorks value chains
A network of businesses, non-profit organizations, and collaborating players who work together to
satisfy market demand for specific products or services.
Because value chains are built in response to market demand
and involve clear and constant communication,
they can be more responsive and innovative than traditional supply chains.
Moves from isolated projects to a systems approach Provides access to larger more diverse markets
Gives farmers the tools, capacities, support and
connections to significantly improve their own livelihoods
Provides opportunities for food & farm entrepreneurs
Creates multiple forms of wealth that is locally
owned, controlled and reinvested into rural communities
Working as network helps to move us beyond single-institution or single-solution approaches
Provides group members with the collective power and support necessary to deepen the impact and expand the scale of their individual efforts.
Creates an opportunity for a regional network to foster collaboration and innovation to improve the livelihoods of rural people in the Deep South.
The long-term development of networked value chains ̶ connecting sub-regional value chains across both states ̶ will lead to greater access to markets, as well as the sustainable supply of products.
Network Benefits
This is the Story of Land, Knowledge, Partnerships and Wealth Creation
Face-to-face visit with each participating organization
Face-to-Face visit with established regional non-profit grassroots organizations:
◦ Southern Echo
◦ Federation of Southern Coops
◦ Children’s Defense Fund
Tour of communities
Meetings with community members
Meetings with local farmers
McIntosh S.E.E.D. and Rural Support Partners compiled the information gained from the interviews and used it as a catalyst to formulate the implementation strategy.
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Research/analyze the various components of the value chain: product demand, production capacity, aggregation/ distribution infrastructure, etc.
Engage, inform, & connect value chain stakeholders
Discover connections, common visions and possible ways project groups can work together
Develop individual & collective action plans
Strengthen our skills, knowledge & capacities
Document tools & lessons to help other groups working to construct value chains
Assessing Processing, Aggregation, and Distribution (PAD)
Customer Demand
Who are potential buyers? Consumers?
What product(s) do the buyers want to buy?
What are the cost factors?
Certification requirements? Grading? Liability?
Environmental impact? Soil samples? EPA?
Bidding Process
Processing
What facilities already exist? Location?
Produce procurement?
Cooling systems? On-site/Facility?
Production
Access to capital?
Current production capacity?
Farm plans?
Labor needs?
Access to land?
Storage capacity?
Transportation?
Aggregation and Distribution
Producers pay system?
Infrastructure: Existing and needed?
What produce can be field processed and what needs to be facility processed?
Project Partners: Cottage House and ASAN Counties in Hot Spot:
• Macon: 127 farms,17,313 acres
• Lowndes: 134 farms, 22,342 acres
• Coffee, Geneva, Houston, Henry, Barbour, Bullock, Montgomery, Lee, Autauga
Value Chain Hotspot #1: Southeast Alabama
Potential Markets and Buyers Include:
Schools & Universities Wholesale Buyers Direct to Consumer
• Wallace Community College
• Tuskegee University
• Barbour County city and
public schools
• Autauga producers in
discussion with Alabama
State University
• Browntown producers in
discussion with Montgomery
public school district
• Dixie - Eufaula AL
• Piggly Wiggly – Clayton AL
• Food Warehouse / Super Save – Ozark AL
• Tiger Food
• Calhoun Foods
• Food Depot
• Food Outlet
• Grocery Outlet
• Save-a-Lot
• Hometown Grocery
• Walmart
• C.H. Robinson
• Cracker Barrel
• Piccadilly
• The Fresh Market – Montgomery AL:
peaches, berries, collards, and kale.
• Cottage House Youth Market
• Clayton Farmers Market
• Clio Senior Market
• Eufaula Farmers Market
• School Road Side Stand
• Fairview market
Project Partners: TUCCA, NWF, Winston County Self-Help Group
Value Chain Hotspot #2: West Alabama and East Mississippi
Potential Markets and Buyers Include:
Institutions Wholesale Buyers Direct to Consumer
• County/City School Systems
• Universities
• Area Nursing Care Facilities
• Area Hospitals
• In two AL counties, Child
Nutrition Directors need a
supply of fresh food for more
than 6,000 students daily.
• White Oak Pastures: farm retails, online
stores, Whole Food
• Tallgrass Beef Company: restaurants,
online and retail stores
• US Wellness (international)
• Fresh Market, AL
• Earth Fare, AL
• Kroger, MS,
• Rainbow Natural Food Co-op, MS
• City Meat in Jefferson County, AL
• Wal-Mart – C.H. Robinson: organic MS
blueberries & purple hull peas
• Cracker Barrel and Piccadilly
• Small local grocery stores
• Highway 45 Farmers’ Market:
Mobile & Baldwin Counties AL
• Community Supported
Agriculture
• Internet Sales
• Wholes & Halfs
• Main Street Birmingham Project
in Jefferson County, AL
Counties in Hot Spot:
West Alabama Counties East Mississippi Counties:
• Green: 118 farms, 24680 acres • Sumter: 166 farms, 26,412 acres • Perry: 134 farms, 13,284 acres • Dallas: 170 farms, 12,941 acres • Wilcox: 155 farms, 10,200 acres • Choctaw, Marengo, Hale: 134 farms, 13,774 acres • Opportunity to move into Mobile, Baldwin and Lauderdale • Birmingham/Jefferson County in the future
• Noxubee: 127 farms, 11,185 acres • Kemper: 129 farms, 20,430 acres • Lauderdale Winston
Project Partners: Children’s Defense Fund, Mileston Cooperative, and Southern Rural Black Women’s Initiative
Counties in Hot Spot:
• Hinds: 228 farms, 24,262 acres
• Madison: 186 farms, 16,542 acres
• Holmes: 198 farms, 25,310 acres
• Humphreys, Washington, Bolivar, Leflore, Quitman, Coahoma, Attala, Yazoo, Sharkey
Value Chain Hotspot #3: Mississippi Delta
Potential Markets and Buyers Include:
Institutions Wholesale Buyers Direct to Consumer
• Delta Health Alliance
• Mississippi Department of
Education
• Mississippi Department of
Health
• Opportunity to move produce
to market at the Washington
County Public Schools in
Greenville.
• Delta Fresh Foods
• Cracker Barrel
• Piccadilly
• 14 casinos across Mississippi
• Walmart - C.H. Robinson: organic
blueberries and purple hull peas
• Roadside stands
• U-Pick
• Farmers markets
Establish a regional network
Develop and move value chains
across the three hot spots
Generate additional value chain
funding & investment
Develop hands-on Value Chain
tools and processes
Identify broader local, regional
and national policies and
systems that help and hold back
these efforts
Phase II: Value Chain Construction October 2012 - June 2013
Pilot: Growing Protocols One growing season and one sub-region
• Farmers A & B followed protocols
exactly, and saw a significant increase
in product yield versus …
• Farmers C & D, who did not.
Livelihood Impact
• Project partners will start utilizing the growing protocols with local farmers
across growing seasons.
• Each will track which farmers are and are not using growing protocols.
• Growing protocols have also begun to forge unprecedented working
partnerships between farmers and horticulturalists from academia –
parties who have not traditionally worked well together in this region.
Launched three fully functioning agricultural value chains
Implemented and documented universal growing protocols
Trained and prepared farmers for GAP and GHP certifications
Partnered with existing aggregators
Partnered with city and county officials
Partnered with Tuskegee University, Tougaloo University, and Alcorn State University
Recruited additional farmers
Gained access to diverse markets
Continue to develop well-managed and sustainable value chains
Increase the participation and income of low-capacity producers
Increase efficiency and sustain The Deep South Wealth Creation Network
Document and disseminate replicable tools and processes
Develop an informed policy agenda and working relationships with regional and national policy organizations
Organized 50 small minority farmers and created entry points to wholesale markets
At close of 2013, in just one year, will collectively have generated over $250,000 in sales of collards greens, turnips, sweet potatoes, cabbages, and pink-eye peas to high-end restaurants, schools, and grocery stores
Started training on a universal farming protocol to maximized product yield
Provided mentorship opportunities for youth interested in agricultural work, closing inter-generational gaps
Begun to create job opportunities within local communities to provide on-farm support
Intellectual • Improved business skills for farmers, new skills to sell into
wholesale markets, and USDA Certification
Individual • Training and implementation of universal growing protocols
and sustainable production practices across the region
Social
• A collaborative network, stronger relationships among farmers
and organizations working across the region, and relationships
with new customers
Natural • New sustainable production practices in the region
Built • Shared access to equipment, establishment of hoop houses,
and reclaimed vacant buildings for processing sites
Political • New understanding of the policies that help or hinder
institutions from supporting growth of local food value chains
Financial • New sources of loan capital identified for the region’s farmers
and connection of value chains to new foundations investors
Capital –Building Results
Local ownership and control
Shared equipment purchases
Shared liability insurance
Market development
New local businesses
Shared labor (i.e., The “Green” Team)
Placed more underutilized acreage into production to meet market demand
Better livelihoods
$250,000 in sales already moved through the value chain
New jobs for young people- and others
New business opportunities for local residents (i.e. sale of transplants)
1) Developing value chains requires significant time and on-the-ground financial resources for both farmers and value chain intermediaries Up-front capital investment is needed for low-income farmers for tools and equipment/Up-front financial support is needed for intermediaries to manage all of the moving parts of the value chain.
2) Developing a regional network to support value chain construction, requires a foundation of trust and relationships between various value chain actors.
3) We’ve discovered a few general best practices for supporting the development of local food value chains:
Work with intermediaries whose organizational focus is in agriculture
Encourage intermediaries to offer ongoing support to farmers
Investing in a local aggregator and horticulturalist can expedite the value chain construction process
Labor is 40% of what groups need for success
MileSton bringing 2 students/farm
The Cottage House utilized prison re-entry program
“Green Team” created and travels farm-to-farm to assist growers with farming needs (e.g., planting, harvesting, equipment operation, training)
Time must be considered
Must develop and bridge a business plan with the needs of the value chain
Marketing, finances, record keeping
Be patient for building structure because the work is so multi-faceted
Want to find a better method for data collection
Important to take data that caters to value chain’s needs
Data also shows farmers that making money is possible, if they follow protocols
Protocols can potentially retain and attract farmers
Once they are informed about the level of demand in the market, compare and contrast profit based on protocols
> Following protocols can increase yield by at least 40%
> Following protocols maximize profits
> It ensures that the customer is getting what they want
Expanding to larger markets such as Belle Foods, Walmart, Sysco, and Red Diamond
Test and documenting growing protocols across the network
Train new farmers and help them attain GAP Certification
Partnering with the COADY Institute to increase visibility and recognition of the Network
Structure and expand Steering and Fundraising Committees to sustain the Network
Pride is returning to our farmers. They’re feeling
ownership.
Partnerships with other co-ops are
developing
A sense of “community” has returned
A New Way of doing economic development that shows positive impacts in the livelihoods
of low-income people living in Rural Communities!