Cultivating Climate Resilient Agriculture Through Peer-to-Peer Learning Among Women and Non-Binary Farmer Networks

Cultivating Climate Resilient Agriculture Through Peer-to-Peer Learning Among Women and Non-Binary Farmer Networks is a grant from Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) that funds peer-to-peer education initiatives for women and non-binary farmers in Illinois.

Administered by American Farmland Trust, the $42,686 project engages 400 women and non-binary farmers through three in-person learning circle workshops across Northern Illinois, covering vegetable, specialty crop, and small grain operations. The program builds social networks and equips participants with climate-smart farming practices and decision-making tools.

Eligible applicants are nonprofit organizations working with women and non-binary farmers in Illinois who have been underserved by traditional agricultural outreach efforts.

Cultivating Climate Resilient Agriculture Through Peer-to-Peer Learning Among Women and Non-Binary Farmer Networks - SARE Grant Management System Education and Training: decision support system, farmer to farmer, mentoring, networking This project will foster peer-to-peer learning among women and non-binary farmers in Illinois, focusing on the role of climate-smart farming practices and climate-conscious decision making in creating a more sustainable, resilient agricultural system.

In American Farmland Trust’s (AFT) experience engaging farmers, traditional education efforts, which are often targeted to a male demographic, are not accessible or relevant to women and non-binary farmers.

Through this project, women and non-binary people who have been disenfranchised from traditional outreach efforts will access educational resources and strengthen social networks to advance the establishment of climate resilient agriculture practices.

AFT will collaborate with two women farmers and one non-binary farmer (Farmer Advisors) to develop climate resilient agriculture trainings, which will be offered using AFT’s learning circle model in a series of three in-person workshops.

Learning circles are an innovative peer-to-peer learning model which provides opportunities for women and non-binary farmers to learn from peers and subject experts on climate resilient agriculture in a non-hierarchical setting that recognizes the expertise and knowledge of the collective group, rather than a few individual speakers.

Workshops will take place across Northern Illinois, highlighting a diversity of vegetable, specialty crop, and small grain operations.

Project objectives from proposal: This project’s objectives are to 1) engage 400 women and non-binary farmers via peer-to-peer learning to build climate resiliency in agriculture, 2) host three learning circles that will build strong networks among women and non-binary farmers, and 3) provide training and resources to empower women and non-binary farmers to implement climate-smart practices and share their knowledge within their own farmer networks.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.