NMSDC Acres Program Announces Partnership with the Southern University Ag Center
material for the Acres 12-week learning curriculum focused on growing program participants’ capacity to take on major national contracts with NMSDC corporate members.
Courses that will be provided to this year’s cohort include:
- National Certification.
- Agribusiness Planning.
- Sustainability: People, Profit and Planet.
- GAP certification (Good Agricultural Practice/Global Animal Partnership USDA – Worker Protection Standard).
- Global Food Safety Initiative Certification.
- Sustainability and Environmental Footprint.
- Access to Capital – Financial Prep, Business Credit, and Farm Financing.
- What are My Options? Loans and Venture Capital.
- Marketing, Branding, and Sharing Your Story.
- Procurement Capability and Supplier Readiness.
Upon completion of the courses, Acres farmers will receive a certification of completion from the Southern University Ag Center, in addition to further strategic business support from NMSDC. The Ag Center will also conduct participant assessments aimed at enhancing the learning content provided to future cohorts of the Acres program.
“This partnership will provide the farmers in the Acres program a more robust and effective learning curriculum and lead to greater contracting opportunities for them as they look to scale their business and work with the leading corporations in the U.S. food supply chain,” said NMSDC Senior Director of Strategic Alliances and Programs Jetheda Hernandez.
“Each and every participant will get immense amounts of knowledge from experts in their specialized field of study. This is invaluable to the participants’ understanding of farming in the world today,” said Southern University Ag Center’s Associate Specialist for Small Farms Brian Phillips, Ph.D.
Applications for the next cohort are now open until October 30. Interested applicants can apply at nmsdc.org/acres-cultivating-equity-in-black-agriculture.
