Abstract
The Southeastern African American Farmers Organic Network (SAAFON) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving Black farming and rural lifeways in the Southeast and U.S. Virgin Islands. The COVID-19 pandemic created unique challenges for SAAFON’s members, exacerbating the existing structural conditions that make farming challenging for Black farmers. These conditions include climate-related disasters, economic disparities, lack of political investment, racism, and related discrimination. In this paper, the author presents the activities that SAAFON has undertaken to address the impact of the pandemic on its members. It provided funding for its members and launched a series of farmer brigades to build infrastructure and meet labor needs within its membership through mutual aid, cooperation, and collectivism. Its activities demonstrate the power of responsive and direct resourcing of farmers, coupled with the cultural strategy of collective labor as a potent tactic for meeting the needs of Black farmers during a crisis.
Recommended Citation
McDonald, Noah R.
(2024)
"Meeting Farmer-Member Challenges During the Covid-19 Pandemic Through Direct-Resourcing and Agroecological Work Brigades,"
Professional Agricultural Workers Journal:
Vol. 8:
No.
2, 10.
Available at:
https://tuspubs.tuskegee.edu/pawj/vol8/iss2/10