U.S. Department of Agriculture Funding and Resources

Offers grants and zero-interest loans to local utility organizations who provide funding options for local businesses. Supports economic development in rural areas by funding projects designed to create or preserve job opportunities.

Provides microenterprise development organizations (MDOs) with loans and grants to help establish and expand microenterprises through a Rural Microloan Revolving Fund. Helps microloan borrowers and microentrepreneurs receive training and technical assistance.

Seeks to improve economic development, create employment opportunities, and reduce poverty in rural areas, especially disadvantaged and isolated communities. Offers 1% low-interest loans to local lenders known as intermediaries, that then re-lend funds to businesses in rural communities to foster community development.

Assists schools and other eligible entities with developing, establishing, and maintaining farm to school programs. Supports a wide range of training, planning, implementation, and operational activities in order to increase student access to local food in schools. Facilitates collaboration between schools, local agricultural producers, and other community partners and promotes educational opportunities related to nutrition and local food systems.

Offers funding to support technical assistance and training for rural businesses that have fewer than 50 new workers and generate a gross revenue less than $1,000,000. Funds can also be used on projects to support and benefit rural businesses as specified in the grant application. Supports the expansion of rural businesses through economic development, planning, and other related activities.

Offers loan guarantees to rural businesses to increase access to business capital and improve rural economies. Allows commercial lenders to offer affordable financing to rural businesses to support business operations and create or preserve employment opportunities.

Provides grants and direct loans to assist rural areas with the development of essential community facilities, including purchasing equipment, paying for related project costs, and purchasing, improving, or constructing essential community facilities. Examples of essential community facilities include healthcare facilities, public facilities, community support services, public safety services, educational services, utility services, and local food systems.

Provides loans to eligible lenders who re-lend the funds to economically distressed rural areas with high or persistent poverty for the construction or improvement of essential community infrastructure, such as hospitals, medical and dental clinics, childcare centers, street improvements, and public safety services. Offers technical assistance and financial expertise to help high or persistent poverty areas gain access to capital, improve community facilities and services, and enhance the quality of life for rural residents.

Aims to provide households and businesses in rural communities or Native villages in Alaska with clean, reliable drinking water and waste disposal systems. Provides funds to remove sanitation barriers to improve the health and hygiene of residents in remote and isolated areas of Alaska.

Offers microloans focused on the credit needs of small and beginning, niche and non-traditional farm operations, including truck farms, hydroponic, aquaponic, and organic producers, as well as direct marketing and sales through farmer's markets, community-supported agriculture, restaurants, and grocery stores. Loans may be used to make a down payment on a farm; build, repair, or improve farm buildings and facilities; purchase livestock, seed, and fertilizer; pay land rents, utilities, family living expenses, and other costs essential to starting and maintaining successful farm operations.

Seeks to increase the amount of affordable rental housing available in rural areas to individuals and families with low and moderate income. Offers loan guarantees to qualified private-sector lenders who provide financing to borrowers for the construction, acquisition, and improvement of multifamily rental housing units. Funds may also be used to purchase or improve land and to provide necessary infrastructure.

Supports local self-help housing construction projects in rural areas. Funds organizations that will recruit, supervise, and provide technical assistance to groups of individuals and families with low-income to enable them to construct their own homes. Aims to make homeownership possible for people living in substandard housing or who otherwise would not qualify as homeowners.

Provides licenses to newly formed, for-profit entities to operate as a Rural Business Investment Company (RBIC). RBICs make equity capital investments in small, rural enterprises that may otherwise have difficulty accessing venture capital. Seeks to develop economies, create wealth, and increase job opportunities for people living in rural communities.

Offers loans to help rural individuals and families with low- and very-low-income to purchase, build, repair, renovate, or relocate a home. Makes owning a home more affordable by providing applicants with a payment assistance subsidy to reduce their mortgage payment for a short time. Aims to increase access to safe, clean, affordable homes for people in rural areas who do not currently own adequate housing.

Provides loan guarantees to approved lenders for loans to households with low or moderate income seeking to purchase, build, repair, renovate, or relocate a home in rural areas. Assists applicants who are unable to secure credit from other sources in obtaining safe, clean, modest, affordable homes.

Supports regional economic development plans for rural areas by giving funding priority to multi-jurisdictional projects implemented through USDA Rural Development programs. Projects are intended to build community prosperity by using community assets, identifying resources, convening partners, and leveraging federal, state, local or private funding.

Aims to improve rural communications and economic development by providing loans and technical assistance to build, improve, and further develop telecommunication services in rural communities.

Offers grants to tribal colleges and universities to purchase equipment, improve infrastructure for educational facilities, and develop essential community facilities.

Offers financial assistance to eligible entities to receive or deliver broadband technical assistance and training. Supports activities that promote broadband expansion in rural areas, including project planning and community engagement, financial sustainability, environmental compliance, construction and engineering planning, accessing federal resources, and data collection and reporting.

Offers grant funding to 4-H programs to expand mentoring services for justice-involved youth, youth at-risk of juvenile justice involvement, and rural youth. Utilizes 4-H programming to promote healthy development and positive outcomes for the target population by reducing risk factors such as poor school attendance/performance and alcohol and substance use. Supports a range of mentoring approaches, including one-on-one, group, peer, or a combination of approaches, and helps connect youth to mental health, tutoring, career guidance, coaching, and other services and supports.

Provides funding to intermediary organizations that offer financial and technical assistance to recipients to help meet the needs of their communities in eligible rural areas. Recipients use funds for projects related to housing, community facilities, or community and economic development projects in rural communities.

Provides technical assistance and training to community facilities programs to help rural areas meet their needs for community facilities, including schools, hospitals, public facilities, community support services, public safety services, and other essential facilities. Supports communities in identifying and planning for community facility needs, accessing sources of funding, and improving the operation and financial management of facilities.

Provides technical assistance to socially disadvantaged groups in rural areas, whose members have experienced racial, ethnic, or gender prejudice because of their identity. Funds cooperatives and Cooperative Development Centers that offer various types of technical assistance, including feasibility studies, business plans, strategic planning, and leadership training, among others.

Provides loans and grants to help expand broadband access to rural communities without sufficient high-speed internet connectivity. Aims to increase private sector investment to support the construction or improvement of critical broadband infrastructure to deliver internet access to a wide range of rural sites and facilities, including residential homes, community healthcare and public safety facilities, schools, libraries, business and industry, agricultural operations, and other sites.

Increases communities' access to locally and regionally produced food and agricultural products by developing, coordinating, and expanding direct producer-to-consumer operations and activities, such as domestic farmer's markets, roadside stands, community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs, agritourism activities, online sales, or other market opportunities. Builds organizational capacity and provides outreach, training, and technical assistance in order to help producers achieve a greater impact on local and regional food systems.

Develops, coordinates, and expands local and regional food business enterprises that function as intermediaries for indirect producer-to-consumer marketing with the goal of making local and regional agricultural products more available and accessible to communities. Supports both planning and implementation activities to establish, improve, or expand local or regional food businesses. Assists businesses through feasibility studies, market research, training, and technical assistance to strengthen food system infrastructure and increase sales of locally and regionally produced agricultural products.

Promotes partnerships able to connect and utilize public and private resources to strengthen regional food systems. Supports partnerships to improve viability and resilience of the local or regional food economy.

Funds telecommunication projects that support distance learning and telemedicine services to increase access to education, training, and healthcare resources for students, teachers, medical professionals, and residents in rural areas. Emphasizes telecommunication projects that address substance use disorders (SUDs), including opioid misuse.

Helps land-grant colleges and universities create community-based outreach and extension services to improve health and wellness in rural areas by offering reliable information on health, wellness, and safety to individuals and families.

Awards grants for the deployment of broadband in rural communities where private sector internet service providers are unable to develop the infrastructure to provide broadband service due to economic and cost challenges. Support internet services to foster economic development and employment, and improve educational and healthcare opportunities in eligible areas.

Offers funding to land-grant colleges and universities to enhance the quality and quantity of comprehensive community-based programs for children, youth, and families. Seeks to provide programming and skills to meet their basic needs so they can lead positive, productive, and contributing lives. Aims to assemble resources from land-grant institutions and the Cooperative Extension Systems to provide at-risk individuals with educational programming.

Grants funds to increase the participation of women and underrepresented minorities from rural areas in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Implements research, education, and extension initiatives that prepare K-12 students, which includes students in 2-year post-secondary programs, to enter STEM fields in higher education institutions. Aims to develop a qualified workforce in the areas of food and agriculture to improve economic opportunity in rural communities.

Provides funding to enhance or expand existing farm to school initiatives and other food and agriculture experiential learning initiatives, especially in underserved and rural areas. Seeks to reduce food loss and waste, improve food quality and children's nutrition, and promote knowledge of agriculture by engaging schools directly with local and regional agricultural producers and other parts of the food system.

Provides funding to establish 4 regional networks that connect individuals in farming, ranching, and other agricultural occupations to stress assistance programs. Strengthens coping skills and helps improve the quality of life for farmers, ranchers, and their families through programs that provide professional behavioral health counseling, outreach, information, resources, and referrals.

Provides loans and loan guarantees to build, improve, or acquire the facilities and equipment necessary to deliver services at the broadband lending speed to eligible rural areas. Supports projects that improve rural economies and the quality of life in rural communities. Seeks to fund projects related to technological innovation, e-connectivity, and the rural workforce.

Offers information on topics to address opioid misuse in rural communities for which U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development funding is available. Includes funding for equipment, healthcare and other facilities, as well as other forms of support such as workforce development, strategic and community planning activities.

Provides a list of USDA RD funding programs that can be used to support behavioral healthcare and community mental health in rural areas. Includes data on mental health projects supported by these programs in fiscal year 2023. Highlights 2 projects that have successfully used funds to expand behavioral health services in their communities.

Shares programs from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development to address specific community needs related to substance use disorder (SUD) and opioid misuse prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts. Provides brief program summaries with information on program eligibility, as well as how the program may be used to confront issues of substance and opioid misuse in rural communities.

Provides an overview of the challenges facing communities seeking to address opioid misuse and substance use disorders in rural areas. Offers information and guidance from a wide range of experts and stakeholders to help rural leaders develop effective prevention, treatment, and recovery strategies to mitigate the impacts of substance use on rural populations. Highlights promising practices, lessons learned, and key resources to support community-led efforts to prevent and reduce substance use and build healthy communities.

Video recording sharing highlights from a December 13-14, 2018 workshop in Knoxville, Tennessee attended by rural sheriffs and judges. Workshop hosted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to brainstorm ideas and discuss new methods to address the opioid crisis.