Refugee Agricultural Partnership Program (RAPP)

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announces the availability of funds under the Refugee Agricultural Partnership Program (RAPP). 

The purpose of RAPP is to encourage the development of agricultural and food systems related services that will improve the livelihoods--physically, economically, and psychosocially--of refugee families resettled in the United States, with particular emphasis on newly arrived refugees. RAPP accomplishes this by providing discretionary funds to eligible, non-federal entities that provide agricultural training and opportunities to improve the local food systems for refugees. RAPP works to complement existing programs while taking into consideration the unique characteristics of the refugee populations being served such as language, skills, agrarian backgrounds, health, and culture. These strategies should result in sustainable and/or supplemental income, improved access to healthy foods and better nutrition, and enhanced integration into communities by refugee families.

Objectives of the RAPP program are as follows:

• Increase access to land and other necessary resources for the purpose of farming;
  
• Incorporate relevant refugee cultural backgrounds and allow refugees to use their experience and skills in farming;
• Increase refugee knowledge and skills in nutrition and food safety for personal consumption and, where relevant, processing for market;
• Increase skills in farming and farming safety (e.g., food handling, safe soil amendment practices, farm equipment training, etc.);
• Provide farming business development and training opportunities to refugees interested in pursuing farming as a means towards self-sufficiency (e.g., financial literacy training, business planning, farming recordkeeping, etc.);
• Increase potential for supplemental income through refugee farming initiatives;
• Increase access to healthy and nutritious foods through farming, particularly in urban areas or areas defined as food deserts by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) (https://www.ers.usda.gov/data/fooddesert); and
• Provide psychosocial support for refugees through agricultural activities

Program requirements:

Under RAPP, the following requirements are integral throughout the duration of the program: 1) Access to land; 2) farming production; 3) all necessary training and technical assistance to produce agricultural products including vegetables, fruit, and/or livestock for consumption and marketing purposes; 4) coordination with the refugee resettlement community; and 5) engagement of the target population to determine needs and program design. Additionally, RAPP must provide services in a linguistically and culturally appropriate manner, and in accordance with the needs of their participants. For details on each of these requirements, see p. 6 of the  FOA listed in Attached Files below.

• City or township governments
• County governments
• Independent school districts
• Indian housing authorities
• Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
• Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
• Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• Private institutions of higher education
• Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
• Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Eligibility Criteria" for clarification)
• Special district governments
• State governments

Estimated Total Program Funding: