Hawai'i Community-Based Food Security

Hawai'i Community-Based Food Security

Summary

This project is developing a much-needed manual 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.

Objectives/Performance Targets

There are four outputs from this project:

1. Sustainable, perennial food-producing landscapes manual for Hawai‘i
2. Five workshops in the Hawaiian islands
3. A marketing/information kit for commercial and government landscape professionals
4. A policy brief for elected officials, civil servants, and NGOs

Accomplishments/Milestones

Project manual
Each chapter weaves together a theme in sustainable agriculture with Pacific Island agroforestry practices, yielding a guide for professionals and practitioners that is unique in the literature. By providing professionals with current and detailed training in sustainable food-producing agroforestry landscapes, these publications address food security needs by expanding opportunities for food production, supporting small-scale farming enterprises, and building a growing network of home and community gardens. Implementation of sustainable, perennial food-producing landscapes can improve food security at a systemic level over the long term. All chapters are complete and published on the project web site (www.agroforest.info), with the exception of the introductory chapter (expected by March 31, 2015).

Workshops

Project workshops are scheduled for March–June 2015. Local experts will be used to teach the workshops in order to emphasize locally appropriate solutions for each island, in addition to bringing in presenters from off-island (primarily authors of the project manual). Topics covered include the Hawaiian cultural perspective on Pacific Island agroforestry systems, traditional Pacific agroforestry, local sources of fertility, strategies for converting to agroforestry systems, integrating livestock and poultry, urban and home agroforestry landscapes, commercial advantages of perennial cropping systems, perennial alternatives to annual crops, advice and techniques for landscapers, and local experiences in agroforestry system implementation. Workshop dates are March 21 (Moloka‘i), April 25–26 (Kaua‘i), June 13–14 (Hawai‘i Island), June 20–21 (Maui), June 27–28 (O‘ahu).

Marketing/information kit and Policy brief

A marketing/information kit is under development to assist landscapers in promoting edible landscapes to their clientele. Drafts of this material will be presented at the workshops and feedback solicited—in other words, kit development will be interactive in order to maximize the value to end-users. Similarly, a 2–page policy brief describing the needs, benefits, and recommendations for perennial food-producing landscapes on private and public lands will be produced with co-authorship of all the workshop presenters and disseminated after the workshop series is complete.

Remaining work

The final chapter of the project publication is currently being completed. The five workshops will be held for agricultural extension, government agencies, community planners, landscapers, and farmers. The marketing/information kit and policy brief will be developed as an interactive process during the workshops. Finally, project evaluation will take place within 3 months of workshop completion.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

To date, the project publications have been downloaded over 7,500 times.

Collaborators: