INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE'S GLOBAL FARMS PROGRAM GROWING HOPE IN ST. LOUIS

ST. LOUIS, MO 12-28-2011 (PRWeb) - When Osman arrived in St. Louis from Sudan last year, he was alone.

The 28-year-old fled his native country after being unjustly imprisoned for speaking out against the Sudanese government. He escaped from prison and landed in the United States as a refugee, but couldn't return home for fear of putting his family in danger.

Thanks to the Global Farms Program offered by the International Institute of St. Louis, however, Osman (whose last name has been withheld to protect his anonymity) is now a budding entrepreneur settled in the community and ready to contribute to the local economy.

Now entering its second year, Global Farms is an agriculture-based career training program for refugees with two training locations -- the North site, a community garden at Hodiamont and Plymouth Avenue and the South site, an incubator farm in the Botanical Heights neighborhood. The goal of the program is to provide refugees seeking a career in agriculture with a variety of educational opportunities they can use in their own farming endeavors. The job training program is a low-cost alternative for new American farmers and a means to economic self-sufficiency.

Since 2000, the International Institute has helped immigrant entrepreneurs create or expand over 250 businesses, with a total economic impact of more than $100 million.

Osman joined the Global Farms program when it began in the fall of 2010 and says he was immediately drawn to the entrepreneurial aspects of urban farming. He sold harvested produce of his own at the Tower Grove Farmers' Market in St. Louis this past summer. It was there he met Jim Robins of Robins Apiaries and became intrigued by the business of beekeeping in America. A visit to the beekeeping project at John Burroughs High School further piqued his interest.

"I've been keeping bees my whole life in Sudan," he says. "In America, the method is different -- your honey comes from the hive and in Sudan ours came from the wild. The American way is a lot more predictable."

Farmers entering the Global Farms program come from a variety of countries, including Burundi, Bhutan, Ethiopia, Iraq, Nepal and Somalia. These new Americans are guided through an intensive season of growing and marketing produce. After completing the program at Global Farms South, the refugees who wish to make farming their career are eligible to apply for a loan from the International Institute's Economic Development

Department to lease or buy their own land for farming. Each year, the program accepts 30 to 40 new farmers into the intensive job training program, many of whom will graduate into apprenticeships on production farms or acquire their own land for farming.

Osman has proven to be a gifted entrepreneur and has already established a customer base in the St. Louis immigrant community. He was recently awarded a $1,000 grant to invest in two hives and bees of his own. He says he already has his business cards made and will be ready to hit the ground running in the spring when his hives are installed.

"I've been apprenticing at Robins Apiaries which has about a thousand hives (but) I only need two hives," he says. "I plan to sell the honey at the farmers market and to some small stores nearby. This is the way I want to live my life, not working in a cell phone store."

----------------------------------

COMPANY INFORMATION

The International Institute of St. Louis (www.iistl.org) offers a variety of services for 7,000 new Americans from 75 countries each year. We help immigrants and their families become productive Americans and champion ethnic diversity as a cultural and economic strength. With the help of the Institute, many newcomers can achieve independence and make valuable contributions to the St. Louis community.