March 28, 2024

Refugees settle in thanks to small farm plots

DES MOINES (AP) — The rapidly rising demand for locally grown fruits and vegetables has created a robust new market for refugees who fled violence in their home countries and found peace in farming small plots of land in several U.S. cities.

With help from a federal grant program and local charities, refugees like Angelique Hakuzimana of Des Moines are now harvesting crops — some of which are native to their home countries — to meet local demand. They’re also finding their place in new communities through an activity many are accustomed to, the federal program director said.

Hakuzimana, 39, was displaced by war in Rwanda in 2009 and settled in Iowa through a program sponsored by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. On a recent September morning, she picked vegetables as farm manager Zach Couture read off an order sheet from a food cooperative.

The organization received $85,000 for its program, which offers farm plots on land owned by a West Des Moines church to 26 refugee families from several nations, including Bhutan, Burma, Burundi and Rwanda.

“The big thing is that many refugees come from agrarian backgrounds and this is something that they are extremely accustomed to,” said Ron Munia, director of the Division of Community Development in the Office of Refugee Services. “The interaction with the local population and other refugees is a huge factor in helping them integrate...which helps with the language barriers.”