Ka Hiapo

According to the Food and Agriculture Or­ga­ni­za­tion (FAO) of the United Nations, “Food security exists when all ­people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs for an active and healthy life” (FAO 2009; Kent 2015). As of March 2021, 58% of Hawaiʻi families experience food insecurity, and 15% report not having enough food on a regular basis (Pruitt et al. 2021; Hawaiʻi 2050 Sustainability Plan). Hawaiʻi, as one of the most isolated islands in the world, is an archipelago where issues of development, food production and biodiversity conservation, and the added pressure of climate change, are especially formidable (Kurashima et al. 2019). According to Kurashima et al. (2019),  Hawaiʻi imports between 85-90% of food from abroad (Loke and Leung 2013) while and the majority of Hawaiʻi’s agricultural products - corn seed, coffee, and macadamia nuts - are exported (HIDOA 2020), failing to contribute to the state’s food self-sufficiency targets (State of Hawaii 2008), 40% of its agricultural lands are unfarmed (NASS Hawaiʻi statistics), much of Hawaiʻi’s unused agricultural land is dominated by invasive species and pose a significant threat to the archipelago’s unique and endemic flora. The model developed by Kurashima et al. (2019) provides insight into traditional Hawaiian productivity, suggesting historical food production of over 1 million tonnes of food annually, capable of supporting approximately 85% of the contemporary Hawaiʻi population, which could inform contemporary planning for food security and resilience under a changing climate (Lincoln 2019). However, coupled with Hawaiʻi's aging agricultural workforce, which is approximately 68% aged 60 years and older, and only 1.3% of agricultural employment distribution in the state (State of Hawaiʻi DBEDT), Hawaiʻi's agricultural economy, and its greater food system, remains at an impasse from optimal improvement and growth.

Salient to Hawaiʻi was the agricultural ingenuity of our native predecessors. Traditionally, farming was a form of multi-generational intelligence, as was fishing, fighting, medicine or sport (Handy, Handy and Pukui 1972). According to Lincoln and Vitousek (2017), Hawaiians intensified virtually every arable habitat, made productive extremely marginal environments, utilized innovation to develop unique farming methods, and sustained production for hundreds of years without the use of external inputs, metals or draft animals, or legume or cover crops.

For this proposal, I primarily focus on the agricultural plains of Wahiawā (96786), located in central Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi. Wahiawā was an important agricultural area for Native Hawaiians, and was historically recognized for its agricultural terraces. According to Handy (1940), it was “likely that in these gulches, as at Waimea [Oʻahu], sweet potatoes and bananas were planted around home sites along the ridge and near taro patches at the bottom of the gulch.” Handy also suggests that the Wahiawā area must have supported a “sizeable” pre-contact Hawaiian population, based on the areas of flooded taro fields, or loʻi, and the extensive sweet-potato and yam plantations (Handy, Handy and Pukui 1972). 

I propose our project titled, "Ka Hiapo: Konohiki Pilot Program," which is a land stewardship program that has a mission to restore and revitalize traditional land management and food production of Wahiawā, such as land terracing, to the rich agricultural center it once was. 

One of the main educational components of the stewardship program is land terracing. Land terracing is a traditional practice in Hawaii that has been used for centuries to cultivate crops on steep terrain and to manage water resources. Terracing is an effective way to prevent erosion, control water runoff, and promote soil conservation. By creating flat platforms, it allows for more efficient water usage and reduces the risk of soil loss due to erosion. It also helps to create microclimates that can be beneficial for crops, as terraces can trap heat and moisture, creating a more favorable growing environment. In terms of natural resource management, terracing can be used to restore degraded landscapes, improve soil fertility, and enhance biodiversity. Integrated within the terraces are cropping systems such as agroforestry, to further the reduction of erosion, run-off, all the while increasing food production and access to food. 

Today, the Wahiawā district is isolated through urban and social developments from other districts on Oʻahu. A major highway bisects Wahiawā, which is further bordered on two sides by a ~20,000-acre military base. Health statistics for Wahiawā ranked at the very bottom of the state, with a diabetes rate 11.9% in adults, which is above the state and U.S. national average. Wahiawā ranked moderately low in community wealth (Dau 2017), with per capita income lower than both the state and U.S. national average in 2020 and with ~17% of people living below the poverty line and (Table 1). Food access varies depending on socioeconomic status (Dau 2017), with only two grocery stores in Wahiawā. 

According to the Food Access Research Atlas (USDA), the northern portion of the Wahiawā community meet indicators of low income and low access, with a significant number of residents 1 - 20  miles away from the nearest supermarket. In their 2022 Food security index, the Conduent Healthy Communities Institute (CHCI) ranked Wahiawā as having fairly high food insecurity, with a food security index value of 58.4 out of 100. Currently, there are no official farmer's markets in this area, though some local farmers and backyard growers sell produce through "pop-up markets" on the side of the main highway during weekdays with varying hours of operation.

Our stewardship program can bring several benefits to the Wahiawā community. First and foremost, it can provide access to fresh, locally grown, and culturally relevant food, which help to address the issue of food insecurity in the Wahiawā region. Secondly, it can promote indigenous sovereignty by reviving traditional farming practices, preserving cultural heritage, and strengthening community relationships and partnerships. Our project will expand upon environmental sustainability and stewardship, fomenting potential career opportunities in the agricultural and environmental sectors. Overall, the project goal can address the community's needs for food security, cultural preservation, and economic development.

The program targets youth and young adults entering a career(ages 16-28) within the Wahiawā and central Oʻahu region. Our organization has developed partnerships with faculty at various University of Hawaiʻi institutions to provide learning opportunities and internships that are connected to accredited programs in areas such as agriculture and natural resource management. Students are eligible to receive college credits through our program. Both the team lead and team support are former college students that have engaged in similar internship opportunities and currently work with students at the University of Hawaiʻi to better understand their educational and career pathways. 

Furthermore, for the past two years, our organization hosts regular monthly work days where we work directly with the community to share our knowledge of food production and land management, while engaging in dialogue around community needs and building a stronger connection with our peers. 

Our organization, Aina Kaiaulu, primarily focuses on serving communities lacking access to fresh foods and providing outreach in Wahiawā. It is our mission to expand and demonstrate the traditional ecological knowledge of land restoration, management, and production of this area which stimulates indigenous sovereignty, preserves Hawaiʻi's cultural heritage, and strengthens our community relationships and partnerships. Since our incorporation in 2021, Aina Kaiaulu has been engaged in grassroots efforts to improve food security through cultural engagement, resulting in the development of significant partnerships and opportunities for growth. The organization have engaged over 500 community members in active restoration of culturally relevant food production and have worked to establish gardens at 3 schools in the Wahiawā and central Oʻahu region. The partnerships we've developed are directly involved in the planning and designs of our projects, meanwhile our work is guided and interpreted by our kupuna and cultural practitioners who manage our project area. The success of our work so far is contingent upon community input, guidance, and consistent communication.

Our organization would like to expand from a volunteer workforce to a paid workforce, in which we need assistance in expanding our organizational capacity to process and maintain a consistent workforce. Although we provide internship opportunities for youth and young adults to explore potential career pathways, we would like to offer participants the opportunity for longevity at our work site and allow individuals to intimately connect with our land. Furthermore, as we expand, we would like legal assistance in understanding liabilities and the forms of insurance required for expansion. 

In the future, we would like to be able to build revenue through our program that would sustain itself over time, and not have to rely on grant funding. 

Kahealani has worked and connected with the Wahiawā community as a project manager for five years, attending community outreach events, hosting regular monthly work days, and engaging community in discussions around project developments occurring at our work site. She is currently training with a cultural practitioner in Hawaiian chanting to connect with the vibrations and frequency of this area. She serves and is indebted to the Wahiawā community and the puʻuhonua of Kūkaniloko.

With intentional indigenous fashion, traditional land management has long been associated with the concept of biocultural restoration and ecomimicry. These practices were developed over centuries by native peoples who recognized the importance of maintaining a harmonious relationship with the natural environment. Biocultural restoration involves restoring and preserving the biological diversity of an ecosystem while also preserving the cultural practices and traditions of the people who inhabit that ecosystem (Winter et al. 2018). Ecomimicry is the process of emulating the natural systems and processes of an ecosystem in order to create sustainable solutions (Winter et al. 2020). Traditional Hawaiian land management practices, with land terracing as a primary example, demonstrate a deep understanding of the interconnection between human beings and the natural world.

The primary goal is to enhance food access and education in Wahiawā by utilizing indigenous farming techniques, including the ancient Hawaiian terracing method, to increase local food production in challenging agricultural landscapes. This collaborative initiative aims to inspire and support the Wahiawā community (zip code: 96786) to engage in home food production, which would increase food access and sovereignty, while simultaneously promoting the importance of sustainable and adaptive farming practices.

Objective 1: To establish and maintain effective partnerships and planning processes to enhance food access and promote innovative agricultural practices.

Indicators: increased partnerships and organizational capacity, established guiding document between partners

 Objective 2: To create a community-driven, 1-acre demonstration of a traditional terrace model and engage the community through regular community workdays and social media outreach.

Indicators: established demonstration model to determine scalability, increased participation from community volunteers

 Objective 3: To promote education and cultural engagement by piloting a mentorship program and creating educational materials and digital resources.

Indicators: Increase in program participation, increase in shared resources, increased networking opportunities

Activities: Ka Hiapo program provides a space for youth and young adults to engage in land stewardship through regular weekly programming of experiential learning and connecting lessons to Hawaiian cultural concepts

Outputs: Program participants gain competency and skills in land stewardship, such as plant cultivation, resource management and conservation, and problem solving through environmental adaptability. 

Short term outcomes: Program participants further their careers related to land management, learn to manage people and provide guidance to others that were obtained from the Ka Hiapo program. 

Long term outcomes: Program participants develop good habits and improve their overall health and lifestyles through their careers from an improved understanding of their environment and peers. 

The core technology that powers our solution is traditional land terracing integrated with an agroforestry cropping system composed of ecologically and culturally relevant food and other plant species. Terracing is an effective way to prevent erosion, control water runoff, and promote soil conservation. By creating flat platforms, it allows for more efficient water usage and reduces the risk of soil loss due to erosion. It also helps to create microclimates that can be beneficial for crops, as terraces can trap heat and moisture, creating a more favorable growing environment. In terms of natural resource management, terracing can be used to restore degraded landscapes, improve soil fertility, and enhance biodiversity. For example, terraced landscapes can be used to create diverse agroforestry systems that combine crops with trees, shrubs, and other vegetation. In addition to increasing productivity, terracing promotes the conservation of water for dry seasons, mitigation of flooding in wet seasons, and the reduction in erosion of fertile soils provides invaluable ecosystem services (Wei et al. 2016). From an ecosystem services perspective, terracing can help to improve water quality by reducing sediment and nutrient runoff into rivers and streams. It can also contribute to carbon sequestration by promoting the growth of trees and other vegetation, which absorb and store carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The Aina Kaiaulu team is a diverse team of individuals who seek environmental and social justice within our Hawaiʻi food system. We acknowledge Indigenous Peoples as the traditional stewards of ʻāina, and the relationship that exists between them and their traditional territories.

After 200 years of colonialism and displacement from our land and culture, Native Hawaiians suffer from low socioeconomic status and chronic health disparities - a reflection of severance from our birth land. Today, Wahiawā is an area isolated by development, with low socioeconomic status and high food insecurity. Through our work at Aina Kaiaulu, we strive to hulihia, to transcend, from deep rooted discrimination and racism to a more inclusive, diverse, and equitable reality. 

Currently, we are funded through service contracts to provide educational services and opportunities to community members in Wahiawā.

Currently, our primary source of funds comes from service contracts, and secondary sources from donations. Once our organization expands to generate enough produce to sell at farmer's markets, we would sell locally produced foods to our community in Wahiawā that would generate enough revenue to cover our cost of production, and reduce our reliability on service contracts. 

Our project is initiating its pilot phase this year and are actively working to securing funding through grants. So far, we've accepted $4000 in donations, and approximately 1000 hours of in-kind volunteer service from our community members.