Project Overview
EW11-014
Project Type: Professional Development Program
Funds awarded in 2011: $58,520.00
Projected End Date: 12/31/2015
Region: Western
State: Hawaii
Principal Investigator:
Hawai’i Community-Based Food Security
Annual Reports
Commodities
- Fruits: melons, avocados, bananas, figs, citrus, pineapples, general tree fruits
- Nuts: macadamia
- Vegetables: asparagus, beans, beets, broccoli, cabbages, carrots, cauliflower, cucurbits, eggplant, greens (leafy), onions, peas (culinary), peppers, radishes (culinary), sweet corn, tomatoes
- Additional Plants: herbs, native plants
- Animals: bees, poultry, rabbits, fish
Practices
- Crop Production: windbreaks
- Education and Training: extension, workshop, technical assistance
- Farm Business Management: new enterprise development, budgets/cost and returns, marketing management, value added
- Pest Management: biological control, botanical pesticides, cultural control, integrated pest management, mulches - living
- Production Systems: holistic management, organic agriculture, permaculture, transitioning to organic
- Soil Management: earthworms, green manures, organic matter, soil microbiology, soil quality/health
- Sustainable Communities: local and regional food systems, new business opportunities, urban agriculture
Abstract:
This project produced a written publication and statewide workshop series focusing on sustainable perennial food-producing landscapes. Integrating perennial food plants in private and public landscapes has many advantages, including:
- Increasing food production in urban, periurban, and rural areas where the food is consumed, avoiding reliance on fossil-fuel dependent distribution systems.
- Reallocating some of the fertilizer, pest management, fuel, and labor resources that are currently consumed in ornamental landscapes to growing food.
- Providing opportunities to supply small, local farmers markets with produce.
- Expanding opportunities for value-added cottage industries such as preserves, baked goods, fermented products, and other specialty items.
Project objectives:
- A sustainable, perennial food-producing landscapes manual for Hawai‘i covering traditional and modern agroforestry systems, local sources of soil fertility, pest and disease control, livestock, and planning and implementation.
- Professional development workshops on five Hawaiian Islands covering the main topics of the manual.
- A marketing/information kit for landscape professionals.
- A policy brief for elected officials, civil servants, and NGOs.
