Defining Land Justice in Rural California: How Equity Policy Can Improve State Land Investments

Racial disparities in rural land ownership reflect the ongoing impacts of both colonial-era property dispossession and modern farm loan and investment discrimination. While California State and Federal agricultural agencies are beginning to consider equity policies to increase land access for farmers of color, many rural areas are already receiving investment for capturing carbon, significantly altering rural land markets. Can State of California and Federal racial equity goals to increase land access for farmers of color achieve land-based reparations, and can equitable climate investments in agricultural land further equity in land access?

This project will analyze public input from two statewide reparations processes for Black and Native Californians and create additional participatory research to define reparations with Black, Native, Asian, and Latinx owners of land-based businesses, advocates, and California State staff, engaging them in analyzing climate and agricultural programs for racial disparities. The research team will use their input to develop a multiracial land justice framework and apply it to current State agricultural grants and carbon offsets, measuring racial disparities in land and business ownership as well as in grant and public funding recipients and construct policy scenarios to increase equitable land access in the state.