Towards Culturally Responsive Disaster Management for Limited Resources Producers: The Role of Person, Place and Professional Agencies II

Commodities

Practices

In 2017, the 1890-Extension Disaster Education Network (EDEN) Advisory Group (AG) was created to fully engage 1890-Land-Grant Universities (LGUs) into EDEN and its resources. Its mission is to strengthen the capacity of Extension at 1890 LGUs and the communities they serve in all phases of disaster planning for and responding to disasters with research-based education. This proposal opportunity will allow the AG to build capacity to provide education and training related to the newest NIFA Knowledge Area (KA 807). More important, if funded this proposal will enable 1890 land-grant institutions to engage U.S. territory 1862 land-grant institutions in the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. While they are 1862 institutions, they function effectively as 1890s with their emphasis on underserved producers.   

This project will enhance our understanding concerning culture's role in how Limited Resource Producers (LRPs) prepare for, cope with and respond to disasters in the southern US and Caribbean. Three major elements will be examined; they are: (1) understanding the vulnerabilities and other challenges faced by LRPs, (2) promoting sustainable agricultural practices that enhance resilience and reduce the impact of disaster-related events, and (3) facilitating multi-institutional/organizational partnerships to focus on improving resilience and equity in agriculture systems and help build capacity among farmers to adapt to climate hazards they face. There is a need to understand how culture and climate influence processes around these parameters in times of disaster and, subsequently, how they affect the day-to-day operations of LRPs. The research will address cultural gaps that have a bearing on how LRPs deal with climate change but also what adaptive changes or responses farmers should consider when their farms are at risk from a variety of climate hazards (e.g., marginal landscapes, drought and other extreme weather events, and land tenure).  It is widely known that disasters disproportionately impact marginalized and limited-resource audiences. Hence, understanding the challenges LRPs face in times of disaster is critical to developing mechanisms that can help them better cope during disasters.

The project’s overarching goals are:  

1. To promote culturally responsive disaster management efforts with LRPs, the community of HURFs, and local, state and federal professional agencies in southern USA, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. 
2. To prevent farm business and farmland loss for LRPs. 
3. To improve resilience and equity in agriculture systems for LRPs. 
4. To create strong, viable, sustainable LRP farm enterprises that withstand and turn to advantage the forces of natural disasters. 

 Key objectives to meet the goals of the project are: 

1.  Use Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and Photo Voice to reduce risk and enhance disaster resilience to increase awareness, engagement, and capacity for limited resource producers in the southern USA, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. 
2. Conduct bootcamp training to improve access to resources and legal/financial assistance for Southern USA, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico.  
3. Use surveys and key informant interviews to assess how farmers implement strategies from the bootcamps to improve communication and connectivity. 
4. Develop the framework for an 1890 Disaster Policy Research Center to assess the on-going influence of culture in disaster management for limited resource farmers.