CAP Project 2 – Women, Farming and Agricultural Network (WFAN) – Storytelling mini grants – $10,000 

This project gathers a cohort of 15 women who steward Iowa land to compile their existing knowledge of the phenological relationships they use to guide agricultural decision-making. They will leverage their collective expertise and work with researchers to develop action projects to make their land more resilient. The cohort will meet over a year as a multi-session learning circle, using storytelling around seasonality and exploring reciprocities among the human and natural worlds. As a culmination of this collaborative program, the women will create a visual artifact that represents a sampling of these relationships that they value – and need to pay attention to – as they work to adapt both socially and environmentally to a changing climate. This artifact will present stories, ecological expertise, data, and art that can help guide other Iowa land stewards toward greater climate resilience. The collaborating entities on this project – the women, food, and the agriculture network, researchers at Iowa State, and the American Farmland Trust have structured the program to allow for expanding networks of collaboration to include groups of women in agriculture in other Central Midwest States) possible through WFAN and AFT’s connections) as well as, ideally, the CM-CAP partners in Sovereign communities.