Training county extension agents to assist and educate homesteaders on sustainable agriculture and family and consumer sciences skill sets

Commodities

Practices

Homesteading is a lifestyle that involves living self-sufficiently and is characterized by a) Food production and preservation, b) Conserving resources, c) Making goods, and d) Simplicity. It has been steadily gaining popularity, especially in Arkansas. People relocated to the country to live off the land, relying on self-sufficiency and community collaboration. However, lack of experience, appropriate technologies, and access to evidence-based research restrain the homesteaders from achieving their goals and living in plenitude. The University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service has offices in all 75 counties, with staff attending agriculture and natural resources, 4-H and family consumer sciences. The “Sustainable Homesteading” project aims to train county extension agents to technically assist and educate modern homesteaders on self-sufficient, agroecological, sustainable agriculture, and family and consumer sciences (FCS) skill sets. The outreach plan, the core of this proposal, will widely reach agents and communities by offering workshops, webinars, field days, materials with accessible, concise, and precise language, and videos. Several topics will represent agriculture, natural resources and FCS, including an introduction to modern homesteading and building community; soil health, composting and gardening; beekeeping; backyard poultry; small ruminant production; harvesting & post-harvesting; food processing & preservation; self-reliance skills such as homemade cleaners; basic carpentry. In conclusion, this train-the-trainer project will increase the knowledge of county extension service in sustainable agriculture for off-grid, self-sufficiency, preparedness, and survivalism to technically assist and educate homesteaders in Arkansas. Furthermore, we want to document homesteading best practices and publish technical recommendations, filling the knowledge gap.

The Sustainable Homesteading project is not just a project but a potential game-changer. Its goal is to train agriculture and FCS county extension agents to educate and assist homesteaders in agroecological, family, and consumer sciences and self-sufficient and sustainable agriculture skill sets. County agents of the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture (UADA, 1862 land grant) and the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff (UAPB, 1890 land grant), part of the Cooperative Extension Service, will participate in the project, serving as the target audience. The potential impact of this project is significant, as it addresses the growing need for sustainable homesteading education and support. Using a participative rural extension approach, this project will link research-based information with objective and subjective dimensions of practical knowledge for transformative education. Homesteading is not taught in most colleges and requires multiple skills, so our extension specialists will use evidence-based research as the foundation of educational programming and invite experienced homesteaders to share their vision, lifestyle, and experiences. The objectives are to (1) increase agents’ knowledge, (2) support their work at the county level, and (3) promote community engagement.

To meet these objectives, specialists will offer in-person and online training and publish technical recommendations about agriculture, natural resources, and FCS. These resources will be available online, on an openly accessible specific UADA website to be used by extension agents when working with homesteaders in their respective counties and for use by the public interested in homesteading. The specialists will organize a shared folder in the UADA OneDrive/SharePoint with additional resources only accessed by county agents. Recreating the old-fashioned barter & trade system, supporting local businesses, and implementing teamwork and collaboration are part of the strategy to promote community engagement. Training county agents to assist and educate homesteaders will strengthen local, independent, healthy food systems and foster stronger communities based on integrated, sustainable home and community resources, gardens, and animal production for homesteaders' off-grid self-sufficiency, preparedness, and survivalism.