Gila Farm Cooperative

Gila Farm Cooperative near Phoenix, Arizona empowers refugee farmers to grow diverse, chemical-free crops using sustainable, community-based agriculture.

Gila Farm Cooperative is a group of refugee farmers resettled in Central Arizona. The 27-acre farm where Gila Farm Cooperative primarily raises crops is located in Pinal County, just south of Phoenix.

Gila Farm Cooperative was founded in 2011 with support from the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in Phoenix. The IRC has been working with refugee farmers in Arizona since 2007 through the New Roots Farm and Food Security program, which promotes economic empowerment, household food security, and self-sufficiency of refugee and asylee farmers.

Gila Farm Cooperative’s farmers hail from Bhutan, Burma, Congo, Cuba, Eritrea, Iraq, Liberia, Sudan, Somalia, Togo, and Uzbekistan. They bring with them decades of experience working with the land and growing diverse crops. The farmers have left behind countries torn by war, oppression, political upheaval, and natural disaster to pursue life in the United States. Many of them find peace and joy in farming, an activity that provides continuity with their former lives.

Gila Farm Cooperative is committed to sustainable, local agriculture and does not use chemical fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides on crops.

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