FROM WHY.FINDING ANSWERS FOR HUNGER & POVERTY

News


Land Lost: Black Farmers Return to Roots

Ellie Hurley reports

In an age of industrial farms and corporate control of our markets, all small farmers in America struggle to receive fair compensation for their hard work, their exceptional product, and their contribution to our country's economy. While the 2007 Farm Bill holds much importance for all farmers in America, it holds a special importance to African American farmers. Long under-represented and under-resourced, they have played an important role in weaving the tapestry of our country's agricultural history and they deserve a fair shot at being a part of its future.

In 1910 at the peak of land acquisition, African American farmers owned 15 million acres of land; in 2002 just 1,500,000 acres of land was owned by only 16,560 African American farmers. The drop in numbers is staggering, but not unexpected considering the obstacles facing all small farmers, not to mention African American farmers. As the original farmers passed away, leaving no estate plan behind, the land became split amongst their living relatives. This land owned by two or more people is called Heir Land. This Heir Land is a major cause of land loss: with each passing, ownership becomes more divided and individual interest in the land greatly decreases. Often these land owners don't live near the land and dont even know each other.

"Our ancestors owned more of this country on a per capita basis 150 years ago than we do today," said former Black Farmers and Agriculturalist Association Inc. (BFAA) president Thomas Burrell stated in a 2005 interview with the Minnesota Spokesman Recorder.

Many in the movement would argue that the problems began when the Federal Farm Loan Act became law on July 17, 1916. This Act sought to respond to the inadequacy of credit at reasonable rates for farmers. Unfortunately, there were no provisions in the act to respond to race, gender, or class, and this led to discriminatory lending practices on the part of the USDA. A report by The Nation entitled "Losing Ground" claims that between 1984 and 1985 the USDA lent a total of $1.3 billion to nearly 16,000 farmers and only 209 of those farmers were African American. In the 1990s, it was found that in some states minority loan applicants waited an average of three times longer to receive their money than white farmers.

In 1997, the accusations of discriminatory lending by the USDA were brought to court in the Pickford Vs. Glickman case. More than 20,000 farmers who had filed complaints between the years of 1981 and 1996 were awarded the largest civil rights settlement in history. Of course this was not the end of their struggle. Again a system wrought with discrimination lead to many farmers never receiving the $50,000 dollars in compensation that they were awarded in the settlement.

With the Pickford Vs. Glickman case still open and the system still challenging black farmers in many ways, organizations have begun to fight on multiple levels. While working to receive some sort of remuneration from discrimination suffered in the past they are also looking towards the future towards empowering youth to take new ownership of their land and their roots, towards finding new sources of funding that will sustain current farmers, and towards affecting government policy so it includes black farmers.

The Federation of Southern Cooperatives (FSC) is one group working on a vast array of issues affecting black farmers today, and they've taken a lead on pushing for reforms in the 2007 Farm Bill. Their mission is to make sure that the new Farm Bill avoids the previous mistakes of lumping socially disadvantaged farmers with all small farmers. Historically, this has led to a smaller allocation of resources for those farmers who are socially disadvantaged.

Among the responses to the current proposal, which FSC highlights on their website, are several suggestions to improve upon the provisions already in the 2007 Farm Bill. They suggest a 10 percent targeting of all USDA farm programs to socially disadvantaged farmers in counties where they exceed 5 percent of all farmers and a 5-year time period of participation for farmers to graduate out of the USDA farm program. They also support direct loans for African American farmers as long as they are strictly regulated.

The FSC also calls for a minimum of 10 percent of all alternative energy research and production to be targeted to Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and institutions that serve minorities. They also suggest other provisions aimed at improving the services that they offer African American farmers, calling on the USDA to include the allocation of funds for institutions that provide assistance to socially disadvantaged farmers and have a track record spanning at least 10 years. This would be of great assistance to groups like the FSC and would play an important role funding the work they are doing to reconnect African Americans to the land that is such a strong part of their history and heritage.

While the negotiations over the 2007 Farm Bill's content are still ongoing, the USDA, mainly through its Community Food Project (CFP) Grants, is working to help African American farmers. Several groups across the country like the Alabama Rural Heritage Fund, The Lowcountry Food Bank, and of course the Federation of Southern Cooperatives have received CFP Grants that are geared towards increasing the access that low-income, underserved communities have to affordable, nutritious, and locally grown food. While there's still much ground to be covered, it is programs like these that are paving the way towards a future where we all have equal access to the land our ancestors farmed.
_____________________________________________________________________________

Taking family land is wrong. It has happen to black, white, Chinnese, Japeness, German, Irish, & of course the American Indians. Does this mean that the owners of plantations family be able to get money also for there land being taken away? I'm not picking sides, I just wonder?? What about in the future? This has happen through-out HISTORY. And the new Inhertance law will do it again to unexpected American farmers or non-farmers.

Rev. Londa