In Hawaii, where 90% of food is imported, farmers who offset imbalance now face cuts

Native Hawaiian farmer Kaina Makua was anticipating $470,000 from the federal government this year to quadruple his production of kalo, or taro, the ancestral crop that is pounded into the sticky, purple staple poi. In January, he found out the money wasn’t coming.

In Hawaii, where 90% of the food is imported, local farmers like Makua need boosts from federal funding so there is greater food security in the islands. State researchers have found an island needs to grow at least 50% of its staple crops — like kalo, ‘ulu (breadfruit) and ‘uala (sweet potato) — to be self-sufficient in a disaster.

Local farmers are not only critical to helping alleviate the rate of 1 in 3 households that are food insecure in Hawaii, but they also provide these staples and other produce to food banks and schools. However, since the Trump administration paused funds from the Inflation Reduction Act and cut other U.S. Department of Agriculture programs, nearly $90 million in funding for Hawaii and Pacific region farms and food system organizations has been frozen or cut, according to the Oʻahu Resource Conservation and Development Council.

Now local farmers are “in survival mode,” as Makua said — scaling back and unsure how to make up the loss.

Makua has spent the past 15 years turning his family’s farm in Kauai into a cultural hub, Aloha ʻĀina Poi Company, where he mentors young farmers and offers an after-school program so kids can learn Hawaiian farming practices and keep the traditions alive.

“Trying to grow these Indigenous crop systems, and trying to get everybody back to Native foods, it’s an uphill battle,” said Makua. “There was so much headway being made, so much effort and progress and positivity, just to be once again let down.”

Hawai‘i Farm Bureau Executive Director Brian Miyamoto said there is great confusion among local farmers about what is frozen and what is not. For example, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, which provides technical and financial assistance to agricultural producers, is safe for now. However, without many answers from the federal government about whether the freezes are permanent, or what shoe is dropping next, farmers are scrambling to figure out their next move. The USDA did not respond to request for comment. 

“Organizations that may have had their funding frozen or may not be sure if they’re going to continue being funded, they’re going to have to make business decisions to start possibly laying off staffing, cut back on what the services can offer,” Miyamoto said.

Over the past decade, Native Hawaiian farming practices and food systems have gained momentum, as the state’s goal was to increase local food production to 20% to 30% of food consumed by 2030. Now that progress is in peril.

“We’re not going to be able to achieve those agriculture goals that we’ve been working on for years,” said Miyamoto. “With our cultural crops, instead of the trend of increasing that production, do we see a scaling back of it, because of the availability of federal funds to help support those programs? There is so much uncertainty.”

The future of Native food production uncertain

Before Western contact, Native Hawaiians subsisted on fishing and staple crops like kalo, ‘ulu and ‘uala. By the mid-1800s, European and American businessmen gained enough power in the islands to buy land to turn into sugar and pineapple plantations. When those industries dried up by the 1950s, most of Hawaii’s agricultural land was paved over for tourism development. By the 1960s, only half of Hawaii’s produce was grown locally.

According to the USDA’s 2022 Census of Agriculture, there are around 6,500 farmers in Hawaii, a growing number of whom are Native Hawaiian practitioners like Makua who are working to revitalize traditional food systems and nourish the land.

One way local farmers have increased their reach and power over the past decade is by banding together through food hubs and cooperatives. By combining their yield, farmers can secure state contracts to feed schools and food banks. With the federal cuts, they’re unsure if they can make that happen.

At the Hawai‘i ‘Ulu Cooperative, more than 150 farmers bring in their ‘ulu harvests, which are then packaged and sold frozen or as flour, pancake mix or other products to local schools, hospitals and retailers. The co-op hoped to increase its ‘ulu production to a million pounds by 2030, but the USDA has frozen grants providing farmers with direct payments and technical support. A three-year, $6 million grant for farmers is also currently tied up in the funding freeze.

“The funds for the farmers were mostly about expansion,” said co-op co-founder and CEO Dana Shapiro. “For the most part, they’ve all paused on their plans to do that, which is a really huge setback for folks that have prepped their fields. It means everything [unwanted] is going to grow back, and in Hawaii things grow so quickly. If you don’t plant it right away, you’ve lost all that work.”

The co-op has also been a supplier to the USDA’s Local Food in Schools program that recently saw budget cuts. “Federal cuts to these programs will have a huge impact on the co-op and our farmers, as well as on the local community of kids and underserved families, who have benefited from receiving fresh, healthy local food,” Shapiro said.

Miyamoto and other local agricultural leaders spent the past week meeting with the USDA and other agencies in Washington, D.C., as part of a delegation to Congress. While they got clarification on some programs, like the continuation of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, they did not on others. He continues to ask the state Legislature for money to make up for the federal loss, but he knows it’s an uphill battle with so many sectors needing funds.

Makua, meanwhile, is figuring out where to turn next. “If this is the road to success, it’s going to be a resilient road, and the humans that will come out of our program at least will be more than resilient,” he said. “But we might pivot. We don’t know. We’ll see what the summer brings.”