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About Us

Our Goals

A reliable supply of safe, healthy food depends on:

• Strong family farms and rural communities
• Close connections between consumers and producers of food
• Environmentally sound farming
• Safeguarding of agricultural biodiversity.

At RAFI-USA, we:

• Promote conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity as insurance against human and natural disasters.
• Educate farmers, consumers and policy-makers about the importance of sustainable agriculture for rural and urban communities.
• Safeguard soil, water, air and rural communities through promotion of sustainable agricultural practices and sound rural development.
• Advise farmers and their communities of rights and opportunities.
• Assist agricultural communities in having a voice for their concerns and in organizational development.
• Link communities together for the common good.

Our History

RAFI-USA traces its heritage to the National Sharecroppers' Fund, which was founded in the 1930's and led by Dr. Frank Porter Graham, Eleanor Roosevelt, and other distinguished Americans. Our small but seasoned staff has been together for more than a decade. RAFI-USA's programs address the trends and changes in agriculture that affect us from the local to the global levels. Working with a variety of farm, community, university and government groups, RAFI - USA promotes sustainability, equity and diversity in agriculture through policy changes, practical assistance, market opportunities, and access to financial and technical resources.

For more than 10,000 years farmers have worked with the environment to create new plants, fiber and food to sustain life all over the earth. As we lose farmers, we lose diversity. As we lose diversity, we lose farmers. The social, economic and technological changes converging on our rural communities are rapidly changing how food is produced and what comes to our tables. RAFI-USA believes that farmers and consumers must be informed, involved with each other and active in protecting and directing the use of natural and human agricultural resources.