Fostering Inclusive and Sustainable Agricultural Innovation in California'S Central Valley

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California's Central Valley is home to 25% of the US' fruits and nuts, and the state's agriculture-heavy San Joaquin Valley alone accounts for 19% of revenue and 14% of gross domestic product, per a Central Valley Community Foundation case study.

But the region's water supply could decline by 20% by 2040 due to climate change, which could also threaten 900,000 acres of farmland and 50,000 jobs for the majority-Latino or Hispanic-and-low-income workforce, the study notes.

To maintain competitiveness and inclusive opportunity for all residents, the region must embrace agricultural technology for climate-adaptive and sustainable food production.

Yet previous technological innovations in the region have cost tens of thousands of jobs, fueling tension and distrust between farmworkers and industry.

"Given these tensions, regional leaders recognized the need to endorse a BBBRC strategy that harnesses agricultural technology as a tool for inclusive prosperity and inclusion, rather than worker displacement and exploitation," the case study notes.

To that end, the foundation's Fresno-Merced Farms-Food-Future coalition has received $65 million from the US Economic Development Administration to create a Central Valley ag-tech cluster.

The challenge is to "build a resilient and inclusive agricultural technology cluster" in the region, the study notes.

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