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Building With, Not For: Tribal Producer Participatory Extension Program Planning

Amy Hagerman

Summary

Purpose: This poster will describe the process of engaging tribal producers early in the development of extension programming in order to jointly build meaningful, relevant content for the community.
Participatory Approach: In December 2025, a group of tribal producers generously offered insights into the current educational offerings that they have used, gaps based on their experiences, and challenges or opportunities they have experienced as tribal producers. This participatory approach allowed the producers to lead the conversation, frankly sharing information in a no-fault environment. The group jointly brainstormed content for the SRMEC project ‘Agricultural Risk Management Education Supporting Tribal Food Sovereignty in Oklahoma’. By the end of the meeting, participants commented that they benefited from the engagement with each other.
Key Findings: The results of the panel are being used to maximize the usefulness of the workshops planned for 2026. For example, while the project team knew many tribal producers in Oklahoma were engaged in livestock production, we learned that producers were often engaged all the way to the end consumer. This may be through the ‘food for schools’ program, through a tribally managed market, or through direct consumer sales.
Implications: Specific themes emerged regarding the types of risk facing tribal producers in Oklahoma. The poster will share the process of intentionally and thoughtfully engaging target audiences in extension program planning, creating communities of practice where education is developed alongside the intended audience. Extension educators can benefit from the team’s approach to engaging a new audience.

Details

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