Bidii Baby Foods LLC’s Farmer-in-REZidence™ program, now in its second year, is tailored to support young Indigenous farmers starting agribusinesses on Tribal Trust land. This unique incubator addresses the specific challenges of farming on “the rez,” where issues like land and water access, jurisdictional barriers, and capital constraints are prevalent. Land transfer processes are complicated by legal and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) requirements, and political resistance often prevents the reallocation of idle farmland. To overcome these obstacles, the program provides training in traditional and organic farming, access to two acres with irrigation, shared heavy equipment, and nonprofit fiscal sponsorship. This comprehensive support helps participants immediately apply their training, build capital, and secure funding for growth.
Zachariah Ben is the owner and co-founder of Bidii Baby Foods, LLC, a Navajo-registered business that sells organic, indigenous baby foods. Zach also serves as a tribal liaison with the New Mexico Tribal Entrepreneurship Enhancement Program, where he supports other Indigenous entrepreneurs throughout New Mexico on their entrepreneurial journeys.
Learn more about Bidii Baby Foods LLC and the Farmer-in-REZidence™ program here: https://www.bidiibabyfoods.org/farmer-in-rezidencetm.
See Zachariah Ben’s article, “Farmer-in-REZidence™ Program for Beginner, Indigenous Farmers,” reposted below and in the September/October issue of Green Fire Times here: https://www.greenfiretimes.com/_files/ugd/1efec1_4b7c3999895e4bc6ac4abd72b6e028f4.pdf
Farmer-in-REZidence™ Program for Beginner, Indigenous Farmers
By Zachariah Ben, Green Fire Times
Bidii Baby Foods LLC is in year two of implementing our Farmer-in-REZidence™ program, an incubator uniquely designed to support young, beginner, Indigenous farmers interested in developing agribusinesses on Tribal Trust land. Farming on “the rez” presents challenges and jurisdictional barriers not typically faced by farmers on private land. The majority of such incubator programs fail because the participants do not leave the program with the ability to address structural barriers: access to land, water and capital.
First and foremost, access to land and water is a huge barrier for young/beginner farmers. Agricultural land-use permits can be transferred, as is typically done within families. Land transfers must go through a long, arduous legal process overseen by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). If land is not successfully transferred before an individual dies, it goes into probate with the BIA and must be relinquished through a legal settlement.
On the Navajo Nation, each farming community is overseen by a Farm Board. The Farm Board is supposed to be monitoring fields to ensure production. If fields are not in production for 5-plus years, the board has the authority and responsibility to take the field away from the permittee and transfer it to a new applicant. However, this process is not being done—politically speaking, no one wants to take land from elders and transfer them to new, young applicants. So, without oversight and consequences for lack of production, as well as a slow-moving, understaffed BIA office, nearly 90 percent of the 14,000 acres of farmland in the Shiprock community alone sit idle—in transfer, probate and/or non-productive.
Additionally, Indigenous farmers on Tribal Trust land face access to capital issues. Trust land is leased to Native Americans from the federal government. Even if your name is on a Land Use Permit, you do not own the land. Therefore, you cannot leverage your land as collateral for a loan, and some grant programs do not recognize the land as an asset. The Navajo Nation Department of Agriculture does not currently offer any grant programs to Navajo farmers the way that other state or federal Early spring planting of corn and cover crops in Shiprock. Photos by Mari Amor agriculture departments do. These challenges put the impetus on the Indigenous farmer growing on Tribal Trust land to source his/her own funds (through personal savings, leveraging other personal assets, grants, etc.), making it far too high-risk or out of reach, especially for young, beginner farmers.
Bidii Baby Foods LLC developed the Farmer-in-REZidence™ curriculum to provide training and resources that address these structural challenges. All participants will gain technical knowledge on traditional and organic farming practices (such as any farmer incubator program might offer). But uniquely, participants will also gain access to two acres of land with piped irrigation, have access to shared heavy equipment, and will be supported through 501c3 nonprofit fiscal sponsorship. This allows them to immediately take the training and apply it to their own fields, build capital off of their field, and utilize fiscal sponsorship to accept grant funding and build infrastructure needed to scale and sustain.
To learn more about this program, or to inquire about the curriculum, check out our website: https://www.bidiibabyfoods.org/farmer-in-rezidencetm or email ZACHBEN@BIDIIBABYFOODS.ORG
Zachariah Ben is a sixth-generation farmer and sandpainter in Shiprock, N.M. He has more than 10 years of experience in traditional Navajo farming. Zach also serves as tribal liaison with the University of New Mexico, where he supports other Indigenous entrepreneurs. Zach and his wife Mary co-founded Bidii Baby Foods LLC, an agricultural cooperative on the Navajo Nation. Mary has over 15 years of experience in maternal and child health development and food systems work.