ABOUT UCFA

The Ujamaa Cooperative Farming Alliance (UCFA), is a program of the non-profit organization STEAM ONWARD Inc.  As a collective, UCFA recruits and supports emergent and seasoned growers from diverse communities who cultivate heirloom seeds and grow culturally relevant food crops. UCFA recognizes the need for increased diversity in agriculture and in the seed industry specifically. We are bridging the gap between seed growers from diverse communities and heirloom seed companies.

Support UCFA by purchasing UJAMAA SEEDS at ujamaaseeds.com. In addition to plant types, our culturally meaningful seed collections are organized by regional and ethnic/cultural traditions. 

To learn more contact UCFA at ujamaafarmingcoop@gmail.com  

At UCFA we view seeds as more than a commodity, but also as vessels of culture. The rise of commercialized agriculture over the past century, has resulted in a 75% decrease in food crop diversity. With the decline in regional food crop diversity, not only are many heirloom varieties becoming extinct, but regional farming traditions, and regional cultural cuisines also risk erasure.  Within each seed is life that sustains us, and life that provides us with connections to the past, and to our ancestors and our future generations.

At the Ujamaa Cooperative Farming Alliance (UCFA) we are committed to expanding knowledge, skills, and leadership in seed stewardship through comprehensive educational programming. Through the Ujamaa Academy, the Ira Wallace Seed School, public workshops, lectures, webinars, and hands-on field trainings, UCFA provides growers—particularly those from historically marginalized and underserved communities—with practical instruction in seed farming, seed saving, plant breeding, and agricultural entrepreneurship.

At UCFA we provide online and face-to-face experiential education in seed farming. In addition, UCFA develops educational curricula, publications, and children's books that promote agricultural literacy, biodiversity, cultural heritage, and environmental stewardship. Through these efforts, UCFA is helping to cultivate the next generation of seed keepers, farmers, and food system leaders.

UCFA has established seed farming training sites on farms in Upper Marlboro and Camp Springs, Maryland. These sites serve as living classrooms where participants gain hands-on experience in the production, harvesting, processing, and storage of heirloom and culturally meaningful seed crops. The farms also support the propagation of native trees, shrubs, and other ecologically important plants that contribute to biodiversity and climate resilience.

Working in collaboration with organizations such as the Seed Farm at Princeton, the Utopian Seed Project, the Experimental Farm Network, universities, and agricultural research partners, UCFA conducts research and demonstration projects focused on the preservation, adaptation, and improvement of heirloom varieties. Through this work, UCFA advances both the art and science of seed farming while helping growers develop economically viable and environmentally sustainable farming enterprises.

UCFA works to preserve culturally meaningful heirloom crop varieties by keeping them actively cultivated and in circulation. Through its Maryland seed farming sites and a growing network of community-based seed hubs across the United States, UCFA supports the preservation of African, Asian, European, Indigenous American, Caribbean, and diasporic food crops that represent generations of agricultural knowledge and cultural heritage.

Preservation is achieved through the active cultivation, regeneration, documentation, and distribution of seeds. UCFA distributes heirloom seeds through UJAMAA SEEDS, educational programs, conferences, festivals, market days, community events, and partnerships with schools, gardens, and community organizations. The organization also provides free and low-cost seeds to community groups to expand access to culturally significant crops.

Ujamaa is a Swahili word popularized by the former Tanzanian president and scholar Julius Nyerere. Nyerere's educational philosophy as represented by Ujamaa embodies self-reliance - especially economic self-reliance.

Ujamaa, as the Fourth Principle of Kwanzaa means 'Cooperative Economics'. This principle tasks us to build our own businesses, control the economics of our communities, and share in its work and wealth.