Mary Belle Zook, Communications Manager for the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative led the seventh webinar in our Farm Bill series. Zook presented on Title VI of the Farm Bill, the rural development title. Keep reading for an overview of Title VI, its importance to Indian Country, information about our next webinar, and the link to Zook's presentation slides.
The Rural Development Title creates programs that support: rural business and community programs; housing; rural infrastructure, including electric and telecommunications services; rural water and sewer infrastructure; and rural hospitals and healthcare, among many other programs. As the only agency within federal government that focuses solely on the needs of rural America, the provisions within the title are extremely important to rural citizens, including those who live within Indian Country.
The Rural Development Title contains many provisions that are vitally important to tribal governments, communities, and businesses. Among these programs are: Rural Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant; Emergency and Imminent Community Water Assistance; Water and Waste Facility Loans and Grants; Water Systems Grants for Rural and Native Villages in Alaska and Hawaii; Solid Waste Management Grants; Rural Water and Waste Water Circuit Rider Program; Household Water Well Systems Program; Community Facilities Loan and Grants; Rural Business Development Grants; Value-Added Producer Grants; Agriculture Innovation Center Demonstrations; Rural Cooperative Development Grants; Intermediary Relending; Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance; Rural Business Investment; and Rural Housing.
The Substantially Underserved Trust Areas (SUTA) [under RD] will go a long way to ensuring more equitable access to RD programs and authorities, and can be used to provide important support to tribal citizens living in remote, rural, isolated communities who are in dire need of the impact of RD programs.
Our next webinar covering Title VII of the Farm Bill, the research title, will be livestreamed from our Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter pages on Friday, May 6th at 3 pm EST. We hope to see you there!
Rural Development Native Farm Bill Coalition 2023 Powerpoint
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