moa’s on the move

louisville, ky

kentucky black farmers’ conference

As Salaam Alaikum, Ramadan Mubarak !!

Brother William and Sister Pamelia Muhammad from Louisville KY, attended the 4^th annual Kentucky Black Farmers Conference in Lexington Kentucky, March 1-2, 2024. It was co-presented by Black Soil, Community Farm Alliance and Kentucky Black Farmers Association.

“Establishing our Baseline”, was the theme to dive deep into ongoing exclusion, barriers and pressure Black Farmers face. These issues are some of the reasons the KBFA was started four years ago. The KBFA met on Friday evening for their membership meeting. New officers were elected for 2024. Those attending, introduced themselves, where they were from and what part of agriculture the were involved in.

On Saturday it was a full day of presentations given by organizers who led us through solution based research and sustainability methods. Some points given were: Black Farmers critical to Health equity, Farming is one of the most dangerous occupation in the U.S., re-imaging the role of cooperative extensions, Black Farmers on the rise, after a century of decline. It was also stated by a panel of black farmers several times, that “this is the best time in Kentucky to be a Black farmer”.

Since 2007 there has been a decline in Black Farmers in KY, decline in the acres of land we own, but a great increase in the market value for products. The panel was also excited to see an increase in young black people wanting to farm, urban growers across the state, and Local Food Purchase Assistance Programs in the state. Products from the farmers in the state getting their products to rural and urban cities. Also programs like, Farm to School, Farm to Summer Feeding, and much more.

Over 20 local, state and federal industry partners participated in a guided technical assistance simulation. We visited 8 stations were they gave a step-by-step process of how to successfully farm and utilize the industry expertise and assets.

The day ended with honoring Mattie Mack. She was born in Georgia and raised in Kentucky. A dairy and tobacco farmer. She was a Community Farm Alliance leader, an organizer in the Federation of Southern Cooperatives and a powerful advocate for minority farmers. The Mattie Mack Farmer Fund was given to two recipients.

The food served throughout the day was a “farm to table” experience. Black farmers from KY provided the food for our meals. it was delicious!!!

So much new and informative information was given throughout the conference. This is just a small report on the conference. We are so thankful we had an opportunity to attend and we are now members of the KBFA. Inshallah, we will continue to share information to aid us all in the Nation’s Ministry of Agriculture.

Peace and Blessings

Brother William and Sister Pamelia Muhammad

Louisville, Kentucky

“Members of the NOIMOA are reaching out to Black farmers in America. We must serve them better than the USDA has served them. The USDA basically “served them up” to a land grab scheme.” – Dr. Ridgely Mu’min Muhammad