Program Assistant for Sustainable Agriculture Education for Socially Disadvantaged Producers in Arkansas

Commodities

Practices

The program assistant (PA) will be assisting the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) State Coordinator in developing the UAPB Annual SARE State Plan. The PA will assist in the planning, implementation, and monitoring of the plan including all SARE Activities. The PA will work directly with the UAPB – SARE Team and the UAPB – SARE Partners. These groups will be assisted in arranging and conducting SARE Educational activities for the UAPB Outreach and Extension Staff, the UAPB Partners, and farmers. The PA will develop a final report of the activities that occurred during the year and present the report to the UAPB Outreach and Extension Staff.

Funding from the 2023 Program will be used to provide education and demonstrations on the use of soil health principles in vegetable and row crops, seasonal high tunnels, gardens, and raised beds. Soil health principles will be taught to both urban, vegetable, and row crop producers. Participants in food desert communities, small vegetable producers, and socially disadvantaged row crop producers will be targeted. The objectives from 2022 will be repeated because it will take several years before a significant number of SDPs adopt soil health practices and without continuous education, it will not happen.