The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) today announced it has a cooperative agreement with Arizona under the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program (RFSI). Through this agreement, USDA and Arizona are working together to offer over $3.2 million in competitive grant funding for projects designed to build resilience across the middle of the supply chain. Arizona is accepting applications for this Infrastructure Grant funding through March 1, 2024.

In May 2023, USDA announced the availability of up to $420 million through RFSI to strengthen local and regional food systems. Through this program, AMS has entered into cooperative agreements with state agencies, commissions, or departments responsible for agriculture, commercial food processing, seafood, or food system and distribution activities or commerce activities in states or U.S. territories. RFSI is authorized by the American Rescue Plan.

“This partnership between USDA and Arizona is allowing critical funding to reach areas of the supply chain that need it most,” said USDA Marketing and Regulatory Programs Under Secretary Jenny Lester Moffitt. “The projects funded through 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.”

Using RFSI funding, the Arizona Department of Agriculture (AZDA) will fund projects that build resilience in Arizona’s local and regional food systems by funding infrastructure projects to make food production, aggregation, and processing more efficient, help create more stabilized markets for producers; and expand capacity for supplying culturally appropriate food through emergency food systems and programs. The state’s priorities are informed by stakeholder engagement and outreach to underserved producers to better understand their needs.

“The Arizona Department of Agriculture is thrilled to be offering the RFSI grant program in partnership with USDA,” said Paul Brierley, AZDA Director. “With our year-round growing weather, Arizona offers producers the ability to provide a plethora of locally-grown products to our rapidly growing population. When I met with Secretary Vilsack in Tucson, he emphasized the need to be sure that the opportunity for farm income is equitably distributed to producers of all sizes. Based on surveys of those producers, we are focusing on enhancing economic opportunities by providing equipment and other infrastructure such as refrigerated storage and transportation to support efficient aggregation and distribution of our bountiful food supply. I encourage Arizona’s innovative producers to take advantage of this program as we work to build out a local food system that aids our governor’s goals of resiliency and a thriving economy.”

Those interested in receiving a subaward should apply directly through AZDA by March 1, 2024. AMS encourages applications that serve smaller farms and ranches, new and beginning farmers and ranchers, underserved producers, veteran producers, and underserved communities.