Refugee farmers setting down roots in Linn County

Siriro Hakizimana fled his home country of Burundi as a young man for Tanzania — like many Burundians who sought refuge in neighboring countries — to avoid a groundswell of ethnic tension threatening the average person’s way of life. Burundi is an east-central African country having gained independence from Belgium in 1962. Bordering Rwanda, the […]

Siriro Hakizimana fled his home country of Burundi as a young man for Tanzania — like many Burundians who sought refuge in neighboring countries — to avoid a groundswell of ethnic tension threatening the average person’s way of life. Burundi is an east-central African country having gained independence from Belgium in 1962. Bordering Rwanda, the region historically has been embroiled in deep-seated mistrust and deadly conflicts between the Hutu and Tutsi people. Violence reached a breaking point October 1993 when Melchior Ndadaye, the country’s democratically elected prime minister, was assassinated during a military coup – sparking a deadly civil war that resulted in fighting and hundreds of thousands of deaths lasting until early 2003. To escape the fighting, Mr. Hakizimana lived in a series of refugee camps in Tanzania for 15 years before getting the opportunity to immigrate to the United States. After a three-year process, he relocated to Austin, Texas, where he remained for a year before finally reaching Cedar Rapids. But life as a refugee is incredibly complex and the adjustment a person has to make in a new country requires a lot of assistance, says Frontier Co-op Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Manager Alicia Simmons. “They face all of these other barriers to being financially stable and independent,” she said. “Coming here with all these challenges, they grab whatever job they could get, but this [farming] is really what they want to be doing. They really want to have their own business.” Like other refugees in Linn County, Mr. Hakizimana was looking for an opportunity to capitalize on a farming background he developed back home.

Feed Iowa First and Frontier Co-op partnership

Feed Iowa First and Frontier Co-op recently joined forces, with collaboration from the Catherine McAuley Center and other area nonprofits, to help refugees like Mr. Hakizimana practice their livelihoods in a new country. Through the securement of 17 acres of land on Linn County Conservation, Feed Iowa First signed a 20-year lease to help the next generation of farmers and expand access to marginalized groups through the Equitable Land Access (ELA) program. Frontier is contributing $250,000 to irrigation development and  equipment purchases such as tractors, sheds and deer fencing. “We started to have volunteers come out and volunteer in the field during COVID-19 and we started to have quite a few immigrant and diverse volunteers come out,” said Feed Iowa First Executive Director Emmaly Renshaw. “What we found out is these communities have been driving to Minneapolis, Chicago and Madison, Wisconsin — anywhere from two-and-a-half to four hours one way — to buy culturally relevant food.” The pandemic caused markets to shut down, making it nearly impossible to obtain specific goods. Many of these volunteers have expertise in farming but lacked the infrastructure and funding to run their own operations locally. Owning farmland is not cheap. In Linn County, an acre of tillable farmland costs nearly $11,000, according to a farmland analytics tool called AcreValue. Besides the cost to start a farming venture, refugees rarely have the proper infrastructure or network to be able to produce and sell products at a level necessary to make a living on their own. The Feed Iowa First partnership allows refugees, like Mr. Hakizimana, to farm on the land, as well as walks them through the intricacies of managing a small business. Frontier Co-op and Feed Iowa First provide support for record collection, purchasing equipment, completing quarterly income taxes, helping them establish websites and social media presences and keeping track of business transactions. “The first year we supply everything because we know there’s a potential for a large loss,” Ms. Renshaw said. “Each year we’ll step back a little more because our goal by the end of the program is they’ll be ready to stand on their own two feet.” A 2019 Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance report found 7.1% of total business owners in Cedar Rapids were refugees. More than 12,500 refugees relocated to America in 2021, according to the United Nations Refugee Agency.

International crops locally grown

ELA farmers don’t just grow customary Iowa crops like corn and soybeans, but they are planting unique foods from their native countries in completely different environmental and soil settings. Popular crops refugee farmers have grown include the Liberian bitter ball, a grape-sized food perfectly suited for higher temperatures; varieties of amaranth, thanks to a special exception from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources; sweet potato vines; purple and white eggplants; water and bitter greens and okra.  When he’s not working his full-time job, Mr. Hakizimana wakes up early to grow tomatoes, potatoes and more. Farming is his passion but he currently works several jobs to pay the bills, not uncommon for Iowa farmers, especially those new to the country, Ms. Renshaw said. “These people work at factories 40-60 hours a week in Amana or at call centers in town,” she explained. “I would say a lot of these men and women are putting 80-100 hours a week between their full-time job and their farm. But our goal is to put them in a position where we can flip-flop those [jobs] where their factory work is not primary and farming is supplemental, but it’s the other way.” The program is being piloted this year through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Double Up Food Bucks, allowing low-income communities to purchase produce and helping the farmers sell In Iowa (and beyond) at a fair price.  Feed Iowa First also worked with NewBo City Market to open a plants- and vegetables-only farmer’s market on Thursday nights and Saturday afternoons. Frontier will subsidize booths for each event. Other customers can buy produce farmside on Saturday mornings.  “My goal is to keep working the farm, helping my family and helping other people, because it’s very nice I can provide vegetables and food to others,” Mr. Hakizimana said. “Food is so central to culture, and as they establish here, there’s kind of this part of home that is torn away,” Ms. Renshaw said. “I think we’re able to welcome them in and say ‘not only are you welcome here, but we want you to establish here.’ That’s what I really love about this program.”