THE U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded Northern Marianas College $10 million to help create, cultivate and expand a “next generation” agri-tourism workforce for the CNMI.
The competitive grant will fund a workforce development program designed by the college.
“We need to ensure our youth have the education and training they need to accelerate the development of an agricultural system that is climate-smart, sustainable, profitable and equitable,” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.
“This historic investment from the Biden-Harris Administration in our nation’s minority-serving institutions brings us closer to building a workforce that represents the richness and diversity of all the communities we serve,” he added.
The program is funded by President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which aims “to lower costs for American families, expand access to markets to producers from all backgrounds and communities, build a clean energy economy and strengthen American supply chains.”
The USDA said the grant “will enable eligible institutions, from New York to the Northern Mariana Islands, to build and sustain the next generation of food, agriculture, natural resources and human sciences workforce.”
The “NextGen” grant initiative at NMC was led by Dr. Zaidul Sarker, NMC Cooperative Research Extension and Education Services professor and state program and food science leader, and Dr. Yunzi Zhang, NMC Business Department professor.
NMC President Galvin Deleon Guerrero, EdD, said, “We thank the USDA and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture for selecting NMC for this competitive grant, and we especially want to congratulate our very own Dr. Md Zaidul Sarker from our CREES program, Dr. Yunzi Zhang from our School of Business, and our Interim Dean of CREES, Patty Coleman, for their incredible work in securing this grant.”
Coleman said, “We look forward to funding undergraduate and graduate degree scholarships and strengthening the CNMI’s scientific and economic capacities while contributing to building the knowledge-based economy.”
Sarker, for his part, said the grant “will greatly contribute and encourage our NMI students to pursue higher education, which will increase local capacity and career offerings in food science, agriculture, aquaculture, human sciences, and food processing and value-added food production from local produce, as well as its infrastructure in food-related knowledge building.”
“I am also glad that it will greatly contribute to building an inclusive food environment for local communities and incoming visitors,” he added.
Zhang said the NMI “may become a future regional hub for learning and career development in agri-tourism, such as in diversified value-added food branding, farm-to-table food operations, farm lodging services and sustainable farming education programs for visitors.”