Alaska Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) Program

The Alaska Division of Agriculture has received over $2.2 million in funding from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) to support the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure (RFSI) Program. The purpose of the RFSI program is to assist U.S. states and territories in building resiliency in the middle of the food supply chain by strengthening local and regional food systems, creating more diverse local and regional market options, increasing economic opportunities for communities, and opening new revenue streams for producers. Funds will support expanded capacity for the aggregation, processing, manufacturing, storing, transporting, wholesaling, and distribution of locally produced food products, including specialty crops, dairy, grains for human consumption, aquaculture, and other food products excluding meat and poultry. Emphasis will be made to fund projects that benefit historically underserved farmers and ranchers, businesses that qualify under SBA categories of small, disadvantaged businesses, women- owned small businesses, and veteran- owned small businesses. The RFSI program is targeted specifically for processing and aggregation/distribution stages of the food supply chain. Production activities are not eligible for this grant program. This is a one-time only funded program through USDA AMS to U.S. State and Territory Departments of Agriculture. Eligibility: Entities eligible for grants under the RFSI program are: • Agricultural producers or processors, or groups of agricultural producers and processors. • Nonprofit organizations operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, distribution of targeted agricultural products. • Local government entities operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, distribution of targeted agricultural products. • Tribal governments operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, distribution of targeted agricultural products. • Institutions such as schools, universities, or hospitals bringing producers together to establish cooperative or shared infrastructure or invest in equipment that will benefit multiple producers middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, distribution of targeted agricultural product. • For-profit entities operating middle-of-the-supply-chain activities such as processing, aggregation, or distribution of targeted agricultural products, whose activities are primarily focused for the benefit of local and regional producers and meet the eligibility requirements of the SBA small business size standards. - For profit entities must meet the eligibility requirements of the SBA Small Business size standards matched to industries described in the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).