The purpose of the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) program is to build resilience in the middle of the food supply chain, to provide more and better markets to small farms and food businesses, to support the development of value-added products for consumers, fair prices, fair wages, and new and safe job opportunities.
RFSI will use non-competitive cooperative agreements to provide up to $420 million of American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding for states and territories via formula funding. The goal of the program is to keep profits circulating in rural communities and increase diversity in processing options in terms of business model approaches, geography, and availability to underserved communities.
The direct recipients of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s RFSI funding will be the agency, commission, or department responsible for agriculture within any of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
States and territories will work in partnership with USDA to make competitive subawards to support infrastructure in the middle of the supply chain for domestic food and farm businesses and other eligible entities. States and territories may use a limited portion of funds to develop and/or strengthen supply chain coordination and targeted market development services for local and regional products.
Please submit program questions to RFSI@usda.gov.
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