In honor of our theme centering the experience of Black farmers this Black History Month, we turn to organizations on the ground who are actively building a more equitable future for Black food producers and others marginalized by historical land dispossession and systemic inequalities. We had the chance to sit down with Nikki Presley, the Director of Farm Initiatives and Communications of the Persimmon Collective Fund, who works to support BIPOC farmers in the Southeast through greater access to land, capital, and technical assistance. Read on to learn more about their impactful work.
Can you give us a bit of a background on the overarching mission of the Persimmon Collective Fund and what led to its creation?
Persimmon Collective Fund was founded in 2022. We are farmers, former social workers, and parents who had previously worked together at another non-profit in the food system sector before forming Persimmon. Our shared, collective motivation for founding PCF is to resource BIPOC farmers and land stewards’ on- and off-farm organizing efforts and uplift their work. Our intention is to work relationally and collaboratively, building relationships with individuals and collectives of farmers in NC, SC, GA and VA, while seeking to nurture the cultural technology brought forth from a lineage of agrarian existence in the South. We resource beginning and established BIPOC farmers and land stewards through funding and technical support, and by supporting ecosystems of practitioners working in their communities.
How does your organization work to provide financial support to farming communities who have been historically marginalized?
We have three core ways in which we fund and support BIPOC farmers and land stewards. We have an Infrastructure grant program that funds farmers up to $10,000 for on-farm infrastructure ranging from cold storage and fencing to labor and equipment costs. Next, our Farmer Organizer grant funds BIPOC farmers and land stewards who are facilitating collective, cooperative, and collaborative work between three or more farmers and/or land-based projects. This grant is a collective grant for $75,000 over an 18-month period and the group of farmers determine how best to utilize the funds to further their collective work. Lastly, we support farmers seeking to purchase land through grants and partnering with non-extractive lenders.
For our grants, the goal is to provide funding that facilitates farmers being able to have the infrastructure and support they need to continue to thrive and grow. Our land acquisition resources are meant to move at the speed of real estate transactions, getting land off the speculative market and setting up a model where farmers can sustainably pay off their mortgage, while land stewarding and running successful farm enterprises.
Can you describe your unique model of investment in land stewards, and what kind of impact that investment has?
From the beginning, Persimmon has centered our relationships with farmers and land stewards as a driver for our approach to funding. In our initial pilot year, we convened a group of farmer advisors that helped inform our funding strategy and priorities. We are interested and committed to a funding model that leans on the wisdom of our farmers and also prioritizes largely unrestricted funding. We have partnered with many funders who operate from a reparations-focused lens that allows us to be nimble and efficient with redistributing grant money. This has allowed farmers to move organically and work collaboratively within their ecosystems to utilize grant monies in ways that best serve their self-determined goals and objectives. To date, we have funded 10 Farmer Organizer ecosystems and nearly 75 BIPOC farmer infrastructure projects.
For land acquisitions, we are working hard to combine grants and non-extractive lending so that BIPOC farmers become land stewards in a model that strives to ensure farmers are well-positioned to be long-term stewards of the land while creating a sustainable foundation for their farm operations moving forward. The current real estate climate in the Southeast, and most other locations, often requires farmers looking to grow and scale their farm operations to have large amounts of capital to secure land and acreage. Our approach is aimed at using philanthropic capital and loan funds to get land off the real estate market to create an affordable, non-extractive model for farmers and potentially protect agricultural land long term. In the past year and a half, we have supported three farmer collectives with purchasing land for their farms, with more prospective projects in the pipeline for 2025.
In the greater movement for food justice, can you speak to the importance of focusing intentionally on Black food producers and its ramifications for more equitable food systems at large?
Black producers, specifically, have systematically and disproportionately faced discrimination within the realm of agriculture for many, many years. Black land loss is a devastating reality with a 90 percent decline of land ownership between 1910 and 1997, accounting for some 16 million acres lost by black farmers. We see Black farmers as the cornerstones of a centuries old culture of agrarianism, particularly in the South. These farmers have faithfully served and grown food for their communities and have been an integral part of the fabric of local ecosystems. Our focus on these producers underscores that Black farmers are often filling a gap in the current food system by providing accessible, healthy food choices to underserved communities and also growing culturally relevant foods that are essential ingredients and Black homes and kitchens. The farmers and land stewards we work with are many things: growers, herbalists, seed keepers, healers, organizers and builders. These skill sets are vital to creating local and regional economies and communities of all backgrounds that are thriving and sustainable.
What is the Persimmon Collective Fund’s vision for the future of farming in America?
We envision a future where farmers, large and small, are valued and able to work cooperatively with their neighbors and the land to provide the foods and services that are necessary for healthy and resilient communities. Within the realm of our own work, we envision well-resourced, regenerative, and thriving land-based BIPOC ecosystems where the wisdom of those who steward the land is heeded and honored. As the climate continues to shift, we are also committed to supporting farming practices that preserve native ecology and regenerate soil for future generations.
Lastly, how can readers get involved or contribute to your important work?
Anyone interested in learning more about our work can visit our website at www.persimmoncollective.org. BIPOC farmers and producers can sign up for our newsletter to get information about our grants and other resources. Those interested in donating to our work can do so at https://www.persimmoncollective.org/donate or contact us at info@persimmoncollective.org.