Clif Bar & Company donates $1M organic research endowment to Tuskegee University
Tuskegee Univ. the first HBCU to receive Clif Bar endowment.
Clif Bar & Company has announced a $1 million endowment to Tuskegee University to support the advancement of organic agriculture and farming practices through the University’s College of Agriculture, Environment, and Nutrition Sciences (CAENS). With this investment, Tuskegee University becomes the first Historically Black College and University (HBCU) to receive a Clif Bar endowment and is the fifth recipient in the company’s $10 million program to support organic research at land-grant universities. This endowment is being matched by the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR), a non-profit organization that builds public-private partnerships to fund research addressing challenges in food and agriculture, doubling the total gift to Tuskegee University to $2 million.
Over the last three decades, research capabilities at the nation’s Black land-grant universities have been underfunded by at least $12.8 billion, compared to their predominantly white counterparts. The growth of organic farming has also lacked regional and racial diversity. According to the latest U.S. Census of Agriculture, of the 30,909 certified organic farmers in the U.S., only 0.5% are Black-owned. This endowment aims to increase equity in organic farming by supporting the work of plant and soil science professors and researchers, Dr. Joe K. Kpomblekou and Dr. Franklin Quarcoo, whose work was highlighted on Nov. 14 at the annual Agriculture Workers Conference in Montgomery, AL.