USDA, CNMI cooperative agreement worth $2M for local agriculture

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service announced Tuesday a cooperative agreement with the CNMI worth $2 million under the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program.

Delegate Gregorio Kilili C. Sablan (D-MP) said in his e-kilili newsletter over the weekend that the funds will be subgranted on a competitive basis for projects designed to build resilience across the middle of the supply chain.

Sablan said the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program aims to support and strengthen the islands’ food supply chain, while targeting underserved food producers and processors by providing availability of more value-added products, improving processing capacity, enhancing infrastructure, and increasing access to locally produced food products.

He said the U.S. Congress included funding for the RFSI program in the American Rescue Plan Act.

Sablan said the CNMI’s Division of Agriculture Office is now accepting applications for the grants until April 29, 2024.

The delegate urges anyone interested to get more information to visit https://dlnr.cnmi.gov/rfsi-program.html.

The Agricultural Marketing Service encourages applications that serve smaller farms and ranches, new and beginning farmers and ranchers, underserved producers, veteran producers, and underserved communities.

In May 2023, USDA announced the availability of up to $420 million through RFSI to strengthen local and regional food systems.

Jenny Lester Moffitt, who is the undersecretary for the USDA Marketing and Regulatory Programs, said this partnership between USDA and the CNMI is allowing critical funding to reach areas of the supply chain that need it most.

Moffitt said the projects funded though this program will create new opportunities for the region’s small and midsize producers to thrive, expand access to nutritious food options, and increase supply chain resiliency.

CNMI Division of Agriculture director Jack Ogumoro said the CNMI has always been dependent on imports, and the RFSI funding could provide a better opportunity for the islands to minimize the influx of imports and a better chance to improve locally processed food that can be substitutes of some imported food products.

Priorities of the RFSI funding focus on projects that benefit the islands’ food supply chain and create new revenue streams and job opportunities for the islands and contribute to the economy as well.