Urban Ag Land Security

Foundations support urban farms and gardens and related programs for a variety of reasons – youth development, food access, environmental protection, and more – but no matter what the program goal, foundations want to see their grantees’ programs succeed. Without the land they depend on, none of these urban agriculture programs can continue, yet the obstacles to obtaining secure land (i.e. permanent protection of the resource) and secure tenure (i.e. assured access to the land) are seldom discussed.

There are a range of strategies funders can support to advance secure land tenure for urban agriculture, including:

• Protection of land resources for existing gardens, through support for stewardship organizations, or funding critical expenses such as paying tax liens for threatened sites
• Promotion of access to “new” land (public and private), including identification of appropriate sites, site remediation, and education of landowners or other partners
• Pro bono legal help, including facilitation of lease and license negotiations and defense of threatened gardens
• Advocacy to influence policy change, particularly around issues that endanger long-term stewardship

Join us for a funder briefing where we will hear from three groups working on such strategies. This briefing is co-sponsored by Equity Trust and CFF’s Urban Agriculture Working Group.

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