The Kansas Black Farmers Association (KBFA) was founded in 1999 by farmers of Nicodemus Kansas for mutual support and cooperative agricultural market development. Nicodemus, located in northwest Kansas is the only remaining western town established by African Americans during the Reconstruction period following the Civil War. KBFA became an IRS-certified Charitable Organization in 2004. Our 501 C 5 status has helped us secure federal grants from the USDA, SARE, Kansas State University, Rural Coalition, and many more organizations in the Federal, State, and Local communities.
About KBFA & COVID GRANT
INCREASE THE REACH COVID GRANT
KBFA AWARDED COVID & VACCINATION AWARENESS GRANT
PARTNERS:
Grant Call-Email Training PPT
Growing more farmers
One of the goals of the organization is to connect those who have been awakened to the problems of food and farming in America (minorities, women, and youth) with those who have been at the forefront of the farm struggle. We need more farmers! "Land is the only real wealth in this country and if we do not own any we will be out of the picture" Ralph Page, Federation of Southern Cooperations.
Research and Development
KBFA's mission is to advance—to the whole of Kansas agriculture—innovations that improve profitability, stewardship and quality of life by investing in groundbreaking research and education.
Urban Farmers/Agriculture
Education
Urban Farming/agriculture is growing or producing food in a city or heavily populated town or municipality. Urban farming is often confused with community gardening, homesteading or subsistence farming. What distinguishes them is that urban farming/agriculture assumes a level of commerce, the growing of product to be sold as opposed to being grown for personal consumption or sharing. In community gardening, there is no such commercial activity. - adapted from Urban Agriculture .
KBFA Meeting 5/26/20 Recording
We seek to expose young people to academia and agriculture. Veryl Switzer, one of KBFA's Founder's, as a farmer he understood the need to foster the successive generations of farmers. He spent several years laying the groundwork for an agriculture camp for youth.
With the assistance of K-State’s College of Agriculture and the Kansas Black Farmers Association, the camp brings underrepresented and low-income youth to Kansas for five days--a two-day pre-college experience on the K-State campus and a three days of experiential learning in Nicodemus where attendees learn firsthand about farming, horseback riding, fishing, hiking, and much more. NCAA Hall of Fame Coach Bill Snyder has supported the camp since its inception in 2009!