INITIATIVES

Agroecology Hub

The Agroecology Hub unites farmers, researchers, and NGOs to advance climate-smart food production and bolster local food system resilience. It fosters innovation by reducing risk and accelerating the adoption of agroecological practices and technologies among the region's 13,650 farms. By providing access to innovations, offering testing opportunities, and facilitating 1:1 support, the Hub drives profitability, sustainability, and net-new exports while hosting annual exhibitions and challenges to promote technological advancements within the region.

Local Engagement

Local Engagement (formerly known as Del Valle) is dedicated to empowering underserved local farms and food enterprises by providing essential resources like access to funding, markets, training, and innovative support. They're creating a thriving "food hub" akin to a farmer's market, nurturing small-scale producers and mobile vendors, offering distribution assistance, entrepreneurial training, and fostering a regional brand to encourage buying from Valley-based small farms and producers.

FARM Projects & Resources

Small Farm Technology Innovation Alliance (SFTIA): Network open to small-scale and historically disadvantaged farmers, agrifood tech companies, research and extension professionals, and community-based organizations.The Alliance will work with researcher and industry to address challenges in farming, food production and processing and aims to reduce barriers in the region’s agrifood sector.

Farm Innovation Program: The innovation program will serve as a conduit for communicating farming needs to the broader research and development ecosystem and aims to drive transformative solutions in agriculture. This includes training, testing and demonstration of new technologies and farming practices.

Small Farm Tech Innovation Challenge: An annual competition for farmers, entrepreneurs, students, hackers and any farm-loving enthusiasts to propose a tech-based innovation that will help small scale agriculture compete, survive, and thrive. All ideas, big or small, in any phase of development, will be accepted and cash prizes are awarded.

Small Farms Tech Hub: Offers tools and materials tailored to expand market reach and grow business for farmers and guidance for institutions to incorporate locally sourced ingredients.

Lending Library: A new tech and farm tool sharing collection at the UC ANR Kearney Agricultural Research & Extension Center (KARE) in rural Fresno County will provide small farmers with the training and loan of equipment to use on the farm, accelerating tech adoption.

FOOD Projects & Resources

Saint Rest Food Entrepreneurship Program (SREP): This program will advance equity and opportunity for historically excluded populations through programming, shared use facilities, and technical assistance to support new food entrepreneurs, mobile street vendors, and micro-food businesses to meet their operational needs and grow their business skills.

Food and Food Processing Innovation Program: Focuses on creating value-added products from locally grown and climate-adaptable crops, and developing market-ready offerings, monitoring trends, and innovations in processing equipment.

Small Farm Food Aggregation Hubs: Planning and implementation of programs to help small farmers achieve economies of scale to access new, larger markets (i.e. school districts, hospitals, and grocers).

Local Food Marketing Assistance Program: Develops the regional branding, awareness, and demand for locally produced farm and food products in the five-county region; and provides one-on-one technical assistance to farmers and buyers to expand sales through value chain coordination.

Local Food Center: A signature facility will include a food hall for vendors, a shared-use kitchen for entrepreneurs, an aggregation center for local farmers, and a new marketplace for the public to shop and eat local farm and food products.

Food Entrepreneurship Academy: The academy will provide comprehensive technical assistance in business planning, marketing, finance and food safety and equip in particular mobile food vendors to establish and grow successful businesses.