The Native American Agriculture Fund (NAAF) in Fayetteville, Arkansas, has announced commitments of more than $100 million over 12 years to advance sustainable food economies, food access, good nutrition, and health among Native American and Indigenous communities.

The largest philanthropic organization devoted solely to serving the Native American farming and ranching community, NAAF has launched a multiyear strategy to create sustainable agricultural infrastructures that provide tribal communities the opportunity to enhance food security and economic development and empower tribes and improve the health and well-being of their citizens. To that end, NAAF is committing to at least $10 million in grantmaking each year through 2035 in support of food economies that sustainably benefit Indigenous people for generations to come.

Since 2019, NAAF has invested $55 million in grantmaking to provide business assistance, agricultural education, technical support, and advocacy services to Native American and Indigenous communities, nonprofit and educational organizations, and community development financial institutions (CDFIs). NAAF emerged from a settlement stemming from Keepseagle v. Vilsack, a class-action lawsuit which alleged that loan programs and servicing operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture engaged in discriminatory practices against Native American farmers and ranchers going back to 1981. After the settlement of the case in 2010, NAAF was established in 2018 as a charitable trust and received more than $200 million to be dispersed over 20 years.

“Tribal governments and Native producers are reclaiming and revitalizing our food systems, said Joe Hiller, NAAF chairman and a member of the Oglala Lakota nation. “When our food systems are more sustainable and secure, our communities are healthier—and our tribal economies benefit as well.”

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