Are you an immigrant, refugee or asylee interested in farming?
Would you like to grow your own vegetables or raise animals?
Did you farm in your home country and would you like to farm in the U.S.?
Let the New American Sustainable Agriculture Project (NASAP) help you.
NASAP is a farming program for immigrants and refugees.
If you are new to Maine and you want to farm, we can help you start.
Our Project
Teaches you about farming in Maine
Shows you how to prepare a farm business plan
Teaches you how to farm on land run by NASAP
Works with you to lease or buy land for your farm
Helps you find the resources you need for farming
What is requested of prospective farmers?
Attendance at trainings and field visits applicable to your interest and desired expertise
Begin a farm plan outlining your interest, including a business and marketing plan
Communication with NASAP about goals and farm project development
NASAP is FREE to participants and can offer training in a variety of languages including Spanish, Somali, Arabic and French.
More about the New American Sustainable Agriculture Project
NASAP provides information, training, tools and resources to recently resettled refugee farmers and immigrant farm workers from the world over now living in Maine. NASAP's primary goal is to deliver focused outreach and technical assistance, including educational programs, to limited-resources immigrant farmers, helping them to build successful Maine farms that are consistent with their cultural and lifestyle aspirations.
Activities
NASAP currently operates two training gardens. One is at Packard-Littlefield Farm in Lisbon and the other is in Westbrook, where 21 immigrant families grow fresh produce, learn to market farm goods and develop value-added products. NASAP has been instrumental in establishing the Lewiston Farmers' Market, one of the few farmers' markets in Maine equipped to accept EBT (formerly, Food Stamps). At the market, NASAP farmers sell produce from the training garden to primarily low-income consumers. Currently, NASAP is increasing promotion to local residents and recruiting nearby farmers, as well as working with partners to establish a year-round Public Market in Lewiston.NASAP has received funding from Heifer International, Maine Initiatives, Maine Community Foundation, and three separate USDA programs.
Contact us for more information
Amy Carrington, Program Coordinator, 772-5356, ext. 103 or
U.S. Finance Expert Encourages Banking Investment in Maine Communities At CEI's 32nd Annual Meeting, Ellen Seidman, Exec. VP of ShoreBank in Chicago, and Sr. Research Fellow with the New America Foundation in Washington, DC, urged Maine bankers and community activists to consider “greater community investment…meeting the actual needs of the community, not just counting dollars invested.” See full speech.
See annual meeting remarks by Ron Phillips, CEO, on triple bottom line investing and the next 5 years for CEI…
See the 12/14/09 article on CEI and the state of investing in communities. It’s where mission happens…
CEI Receives $125 Million in NMTC Through its subsidiary, CEI Capital Management LLC, CEI will use the allocation to attract private capital investments for primarily rural economic development projects. See press release here.
CEI Receives Investment Funds In partnership with Manufacturers Association of Maine, CEI will receive $765,000 over from the Federal Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Community Services (OCS), to finance several job-generating small-to-medium enterprises. This funding will create 78 full-time, year-round jobs. Read press release here.
Bangor Savings Bank and CEI offer low-interest loans to small and medium-sized enterprises in disadvantaged areas in Maine. Read more here.
Ibrahim Dahab - A New American Farmer
Ibrahim is a Muslim
refugee from Sudan. In partnership with Boulis Kodi, a Christian refugee from
Sudan, he has been working with the New Americans Sustainable Agriculture
Project (NASAP) for over two years now. He has worked as a Halal butcher in a
friend’s store and he developed a business plan for trucking animals to Maine.
His dream has been to return to the occupation he had in the Sudan, raising
sheep and goats to provide fresh meat for his community.
Recently, he took a risk
and started his business. He is aware of the desire for Halal meat in his
community, as well as the demand in other ethnic communities and neighboring
states. Based on his experience, he was certain that he had a ready market for
both goat and sheep.
NASAP assisted Ibrahim in
developing several aspects of his business.
In order to raise animals for meat, he needed, among other things, to
have land, capital, training, experience, a source for animals, a way to
transport them, and a way to slaughter them so they would be ready for
sale. Each of these aspects has required
considerable work. NASAP has been able
to offer him assistance regarding each of these critical features of his
enterprise.
Ibrahim has also
been involved with other CEI programs. Through the Individual Development
Account program, he qualified for dollar for dollar match for his savings up to
$4,000. At the completion of this program, he had an $8,000 nest egg available
to invest in his business. The requirement to draw on these funds was that he
had a viable business plan. This was achieved through working with StartSmart. With the help of NASAP
Ibrahim is now well on his way to a sustainable future in agriculture.
The Future of Maine Agriculture
"Who will grow our food?" ask supporters of Maine agriculture as they
look to the future. Consumers who value local food are concerned when
they learn that half the farms and nearly half the farmland in the
state are owned by people who are 60 years or older. Maine needs new
farmers to keep the state's farmland in production. There are currently
about 7,000 farms in Maine. Based on an average career of 35 years we
will need at least 200 new farmers each year.
36 Water Street, PO Box 268, Wiscasset, ME 04578; Telephone: 207/882-7552; FAX: 207/882-7308; E-mail: cei@ceimaine.org
