People of the Land II: Sustaining Agriculture on American Indian Lands in the Four-Corners Region

People of the Land II: Sustaining Agriculture on American Indian Lands in the Four-Corners Region

Summary

This specific professional development targets the Hopi and Navajo reservations in Arizona and New Mexico. The program design begins with primary data collection featuring a needs assessment of American Indian agricultural producers. The survey instrument will be constructed to assess perceptions of qualiity of life on reservations as related to agriculture and natural resource management and identify obstacles and opportunities. The results of the needs assesment will be tied to the creation of a professional development curriculum for agriculture professionals.

Objectives/Performance Targets

The three primary objectives of the project are:
1. Increase the knowledge, skills and actions of USDA and other agricultural and natural resource professionals regarding the cultural, social, political and economic environment relevant to developing sustainable agricultural operations in reservation environments.
2. Sustain the economic viability of American Indian agricultural operations through the implementation of USDA programs.
3. Increase the ability of agricultural professionals to develop effective outreach plans to better fit the needs of a particular reservation environment, tribal culture, and individual Indian agricultural producer.

Accomplishments/Milestones

The following activities to accomplish the above activities took place in the first year:
1. The essential elements required to introduce and/or conduct sustainable agricultural and natural resource management programs with the Hopi tribe were examined.
2. Research occuring on public policies and regulations affecting the Hopi and Navajo tribal governments is on-going.
3. A needs assessment to identify obstacles and opportunities for implementing sustainable agricultural practices has been developed and reviewed by the Hopi tribe and communications are ongoing with the Navajo tribe.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

While the needs assessment has been developed with the assistance of Hopi tribal staff, communications with the Navajo Nation are on-going. Each of the tribes has its own Institutional Review Board. The application has been submitted to the Hopi tribe, with the assistance of Hopi tribal FRTEP agent, and approval should be received by the summer of 2013.

The Navajo nation has requested that needs assessment approval has to be approved by all chapters. Due to the time frame of the project, this is not a viable option. We are working with the University of Arizona Federally Recognized Tribes Extension Program (FRTEP) to find a more viable option for the needs assessment. We also are looking at finding an IRB exemption for the needs assessment, but some research protocol may need to be adjusted after review from the Navajo Nation agriculture and IRB departments.

The Hopi tribe likes the proposed project, has reviewed the needs assessment, but want their own specific curriculum. The overall project proposal was to create one-curriculum. Due to tribal input, the Hopi tribe will have its own curriculum, and we may have to reduce the number of pages or color pages for their specific curriculum. We will be hiring a graphic design artist as the Hopi tribe does not allow pictures, but tribal staff agreed to work with an artist. The project team will return to the Hopi reservation in late summer with the artist. The needs assessment should be underway at this time.

Collaborators: