Putting Down Roots: A Case Study of the Participation of Somali Bantu Refugees in the Global Gardens Refugee Farming Project in Boise, Idaho
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Date
2011-06
Authors
Smith, Emily Rene, 1981-
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
Using interviews with refugee farmers and insights gained through participant-observation at farms and at farming events, this thesis explores how Somali Bantu refugees interact with the Global Gardens resettlement project in Boise, Idaho. Somali Bantu refugees' engagement with the agricultural integration program reveals that the United States refugee resettlement system often focuses on economic integration goals and measures to the exclusion of alternative development or integration options. Refugee farmers' common and differing experiences and evaluations of the farm project challenge the wisdom of a purely neoliberal, economics-focused approach to resettlement. This study suggests that refugee-farming participants were not uniformly and principally motivated to farm by potential financial gain: in addition to viewing the farms as an economic resource, participants valued the farms as important social, cultural, and civic resources.
Description
ix, 86 p.
Keywords
Ethnic studies, Somalis -- Idaho, Refugees -- Idaho