Center to support farmers in islands

Local agriculture in Hawaii will be supported through a $30 million regional food business center meant to assist producers and local food systems.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently announced a dozen finalists for new USDA Regional Food Business Centers meant to strengthen food systems across the country by providing technical assistance, capacity building and coordination along the food supply chain.

The centers will help small and midsize farming operations and food businesses navigate government resources and access new markets. They’ll also help connect farmers with wholesalers and distributors, a task farmers are often forced to do on their own.

Hawaii leaders recently announced the Island and Remote Areas USDA Regional Food Business Center, which will be established by the Hawaii Good Food Alliance.

Along with Hawaii, the USDA-funded center also will provide support in Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Alaska, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

“It’s basically to amplify our food systems and to support small farmers and food hubs,” said Saleh Azizi, one of the project directors and the director for the Hawaii Food Hub Hui. He was previously the food hub manager Kahumana Organic Farms food hub, where the announcement took place.

The business center will be digital and possibly without a physical location, Azizi said. Hawaii farm hubs like Kahumana, which has grown since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, have been important in connecting farmers with markets and aggregating their produce for distribution.

“USDA is excited to be partnering with the Hawaiʻi Good Food Alliance on this innovative and unprecedented initiative,” said Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt in a statement when the food business center finalists were selected. “By leveraging the expertise now available through these Regional Food Centers, USDA can offer unique support for local food systems development across the country.”

Azizi added that a state Department of Agriculture program, in tandem with the business center project, is starting a grant program to support the business center.

Strengthening the local food system is particularly important for island areas like Hawaii, which faces food supply chain challenges caused by climate change and shipping disruptions.

Other unforeseen events like COVID-19 that can disrupt global supply chains already have shown that they can leave shelves at Hawaii grocery stores empty for extended periods.

There is only about a week’s worth of food in Hawaii to feed residents and visitors if the food supply chain is disrupted, according to a 2017 report by the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.

On the production side, local farmers continue to face barriers of accessing land, capital and labor at an affordable price.

Agriculture is trending in the wrong direction, as it’s a small and shrinking share of Hawaii’s gross domestic product. Further, the amount of land in Hawaii in agricultural use has dropped by more than 40% between 1982 and 2017.