UA Indigenous Resilience Center Awarded Grant to Expand Regenerative Agriculture Research and Community Capacity Building

The Indigenous Resilience Center (IRes) at the University of Arizona is excited to announce plans to expand its research in regenerative agriculture and support for community capacity building. IRes is leaning heavily into “Regenerative Indigenous Solutions for the Earth (RISE)”, which is a comprehensive initiative to address food challenges through community-driven, regenerative agriculture and land stewardship with Native Nations and tribal farmers. Dr. Michael Kotutwa Johnson (Hopi), IRes Core Faculty affiliate, defines Indigenous regenerative agriculture as “the process of incorporating Indigenous place-based ways of knowing and land use management schemes adapted for survival, which are supported by culture, belief systems, and community incorporated over millennia.” (M. Johnson, 2022). Indigenous regenerative agriculture necessitates understanding the interconnectedness of water, soil, plant, and human health. 

With funding from the Waverley Street Foundation, IRes will support an integrated approach to building community resilience and improving human health by safeguarding culturally significant plant health, enhancing soil vitality, and ensuring access to reliable and clean water for agricultural purposes. By aligning Indigenous knowledge with IRes’ core values, RISE aims to support sustainable food systems, improve human and environmental health, and strengthen economic development opportunities within Tribal communities.

The Indigenous Resilience Center is a nationally recognized, Indigenous-led initiative housed at the University of Arizona that works at the nexus of food, energy, and water security in tribal communities. With a strong track record of co-designing environmental strategies alongside tribal partners, the Indigenous Resilience Center has earned trust among over 20 tribal nations in the Southwest U.S. region. It brings deep relational infrastructure, Indigenous and western scientific expertise, and a values-aligned commitment to sovereignty and self-determination.

IRes will focus on implementing its four-part strategy to enhance resilience through regenerative agriculture in tribal communities across Arizona and New Mexico: 

1. Community Resilience Regranting Program: Offer multi-year grants and capacity-building support to grassroots tribal organizations, thus enabling community-led regenerative agriculture, food systems work, and adaptation projects that address drought and heat stress.
2. Environmental Monitoring through the Native American Soil Health Initiative (NASHI): Expand soil health and water mapping that serves tribal lands with field-based training and monitoring designed in collaboration with tribal environmental programs.
3. Indigenous Policy Insight Initiative: Produce annual policy briefs that use community-relevant analysis to translate local, state, and federal policy into actionable insights for tribal leaders, environmental staff, and youth.
4. Leadership and Capacity Building: Partner with Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), youth programs, and Indigenous scholars to offer convenings and culturally grounded training that builds local governance capacity and technical knowledge.

“Indigenous communities are leaders in regenerative agriculture. This funding will have a major positive impact on our work as a research center while allowing our team to continue to deepen existing relationships with communities across the Southwest and planting seeds for new ones,” shared Dr. Karletta Chief (Diné), Director of the Indigenous Resilience Center.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Torran Anderson

Community Outreach Manager, Indigenous Resilience Center 

rii-irc@arizona.edu

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