Sustainable Community
Grants
With seed money from CSREES, the Sustainable
Communities Grants competitive program was
developed jointly by the Southern Rural Development
Center (SRDC) and Southern-Region Sustainable
Agriculture Research and Education (SARE).
The program blends agriculture and community
and economic development.
Through their joint grants program, they
have funded projects that explicitly link
community development and sustainable agriculture
in the South and improve understanding of
the benefits of such linkages. As a result:
- Coastal Alabama communities are addressing
farmland preservation issues.
- Henderson County, North Carolina, community
planners are coordinating policies and
actions to sustain threatened agricultural
communities.
- Northern Louisiana farmers, community
leaders, and agriculture and community
development technical assistance providers
are developing local markets for produce
and promoting value-added activities to
grow the local economy.
- An Appalachian community college is
passing along to farmers what students
and faculty have learned about raising
trout, crawfish, and tilapia using water
from abandoned coal mines.
- Kentucky farm women are building their
policymaking skills.
Summaries
of funded programs and impacts are available
online.
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