“The count for minority farmers, specifically women farmers and women of color, is low,” said Dr. Tammy Steele. “If there are no farmers, there is no food.”
Steele is the founder and director of the National Women in Agriculture Association (NWIAA). Founded in 2008 and based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, NWIAA is one of the largest non-profit organizations for Black women in agriculture globally and features a wide range of programs catered to youth, young women, veterans, and people with disabilities, among others. The organization comprises approximately 45,000 members across its 70 national and 14 international chapters.
The NWIAA recently held the “National Women in Agriculture,” a two-day conference at the People’s Garden in Compton to highlight agriculture techniques and financial grants for farmers and eliminate food deserts.
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A diverse coalition of farmers, activists, and allies gathered to discuss minority agriculture and the sustainable life skill opportunities for at-risk youth that other groups have been receiving for over 100 years.
Steele wanted to bring the initiative and the opportunities to Compton, a community known to face challenges that could be solved with agricultural opportunities made available with proper funding. The conference highlighted the challenges faced by Black women in agriculture, promoted equity and inclusion within the agricultural sector, and sought support for NWIAA to become the first Black congressionally chartered non-profit in the US.
“I was actually born and raised on a farm,” said Steele. “I am a descendent of the 40 acres and a mule.”
Steele said she left Oklahoma to work on Wall Street and obtain a law degree from New York University. When she returned to her ancestral home, her family members still owned farmland. Collectively, her family owned about 1,000 acres, but the historic landowners were struggling.
In addition, Steele observed two major inequities – female farmers didn’t have a voice and much of the subsidy programs benefitted White men.
“I wanted to do something to help women farmers and specifically women farmers, because again, as Michelle Obama says, ‘White America acts as if Black women do not exist,’” she said.
According to Steele, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has excluded female minority farmers from the American Rescue Plan Funding, the Inflation Act, and other equity & inclusion resources. The NWIAA has been building support for the Women in Agriculture Act, authored by Congresswoman Sheila McCormick, and is in the final draft at the U.S. Capitol.
As food insecurity and shortages emerge as a global problem, Steele’s message on urban and rural farming to build a sustainable food source is resonating. The USDA and the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) are sponsoring her organization. There’s even a documentary film in the works.
“Everything’s agriculture, and that’s what we want to make sure that our children understand,” said Steele.
“So, in a nutshell, that’s why I do it is for women, Black women farmers, minority women, farmers and children. And then ultimately it’s for the children to save their lives and give them the same sustainable life-skill opportunities as white children have been receiving in our research,” said Steele.
For more information on Steele and her organization, visit https://www.nwiaa.org or follow on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/nwiaa.hq, Facebook: https:// www.facebook.com/nationalwomeninag , YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NwiaaOrg , and X: https://twitter.com/NWIAA/status.