Land Access
For more information about our journey to find land:
Muhidin Libah
Executive Director
(207) 344-7132
Land Access
For more information about our journey to find land:
Mission
The SBCA’s Land Access mission is to advance land access for historically marginalized farmers and communities in Maine in partnership with land justice organizations to mobilize resources to increase the diversity of people accessing farmland in the Northeast in order to create a more just and equitable food landscape.
Vision
Our Land Access work is informed by the vision to create a regional farming community that celebrates traditional farming practices and structures to uplift historically marginalized farmers. We strive to engage in reciprocal relationships that establish culturally relevant livelihoods and achieve food sovereignty for immigrant families and communities using strategies that reflect the goals of those seeking land.
Liberation Farms
The Somali Bantu Community Association and Agrarian Trust are thrilled to announce that as of May 2025, SBCA is the sole owner of Liberation Farms which is located in the homeland of the Abenaki and Wabanaki, People of the Dawn. This transfer ensures land tenure without encumbrances for the SBCA community indefinitely, as was the original intent of the project.
In all of its ongoing complexity, Liberation Farms continues to model what is possible with dogged perseverance, strong commitment to relationships, and holistic community support. This project was and is focused on equitable land justice and long-term land security for the immigrant community. The conclusion of the SBCA’s land acquisition journey reflects a diversity of perspectives and understandings that spring from the people who steward the land at Liberation Farms now and into the future.
Land Access Partners:
SBCA’s Commitment to Wabanaki Nations
The Somali Bantu Community Association is dedicated to building trustful relationships and to work in solidarity with the Wabanaki people. We are working toward transforming our perspective in order to advance the goals and work towards justice for the Wabanaki people. The SBCA acknowledges and fully agrees to leverage resources and power available to us to uplift Wabanaki land search and return.
Members of the Somali Bantu Community have suffered from the effects of colonialism, displacement, and the forces of assimilation, albeit in a wholly different timeline and circumstances. We are sympathetic to and wish to be in solidarity with the Wabanaki people who have experienced the atrocities of white supremacy and cultural erasure.
The SBCA is actively involved in efforts to advance land access in multiple grant efforts that seek to build meaningful and trusting relationships with Wabanaki without agenda. It is our hope to invest time and resources in finding the similarities and celebrating the differences between our cultures in solidarity and to build a broader community.
Our efforts to exchange foods and cultures have already been underway, and we hope to continue to build the relationships we have formed. By understanding each other’s perspectives and histories, we strive to move forward to create shared goals, exchange knowledge, and share resources when it feels appropriate and good to all involved. In particular, we are invested in identifying collaborative uses of the 40 acres of woodlot at Liberation Farms, exploring medicinal plants there, and establishing recreational trails open to Wabanaki and members of the refugee community where safe, peaceful, and private communion with nature can be enjoyed.
We have also taken steps to advance and promote Wabanaki Landback’s efforts, needs, and success whenever possible by urging donors, partners, and funders to do the same. We have utilized our general operating funds to support a Land Access Project Manager for a partnering Wabanaki nonprofit in order to advocate and advance their land-seeking and securing efforts. We are actively conceiving of ways to envision SBCA land assets are returned to Wabanaki stewardship in the event of our organization’s dissolution, and have refused to partner with prominent land trusts to place a conservation easement on Liberation Farms until the limitations and oversight enforced on Wabanaki entities is changed or removed in the Maine State Law.
SBCA pledges our Board of Directors and Staff time and energy to pursue the upholding of our invaluable relationships with Wabanaki and Indigenous partners outside of Wabanaki and look forward to participating in the next cohort of First Light to further our engagement and understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing our Wabanaki neighbors.
Members of our staff have been involved in two cohorts of the First Light Learning Journey to enhance our understanding of the perspectives and lived experiences of Wabanaki people.
Reach out to us for more information about our land access work:
Every contribution, whether time or money, supports the success of this community.
Donate
Your donation supports our mission to empower immigrants and refugees in Maine.
Get Involved
Contact us if you are looking to volunteer your time or work with us.
Contact Us
We’ll be happy to answer any of your questions or respond to your comments.
