CTAHR NEWS

Sustainable Jackpot

NREM prof lands $40M for climate-smart food production

  • 5 October 2022
  • Author: Mark Berthold
  • Number of views: 1127
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Sustainable Jackpot

With a game-changing grant from the federal Dept. of Agriculture, CTAHR researchers now have significant resources to assist Hawaiʻi farmers, ranchers, and foresters in implementing sustainable, climate-smart practices and establishing stronger markets that live beyond the life of the grant for locally produced, healthy food and forest products.

Led by Susan Crow of the Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, the full-time project team of a diverse coalition of stakeholders will pursue:

  • Combat climate change through nature-based solutions in natural and working lands
  • Reduce and reuse waste for fertilizer and soil amendment
  • Create a resilient and abundant local food supply
  • Provide healthier food options that will ultimately create a healthier state population

“We have four objectives for meeting these goals, starting with overcoming the many persistent implementation barriers, which we’ll do through investment and incentives,” says Susan. “We will also improve technical assistance through a network of community-based organizations, build decision support tools for verification and monitoring and generate internal momentum for a market-based sustainable food system.”

The project aims to create a thriving local market for healthy, locally produced food and other climate smart products. Within the first year, the coalition will provide millions of dollars in direct financial assistance to dozens of producers to improve their sustainability practices, which will impact thousands of acres. Over time, the coalition will identify, fund and implement an inclusive, community-based approach to identifying and supporting the needs of underserved producers.

“For years, I worked with the last large-scale sugar producer in the state and watched as staff closed operations,” says Susan. “I also interacted with many small producers as they struggled to start up operations on lands degraded by long-term intensive agriculture. Climate change is such an existential threat that people often feel they can’t contribute to the solution as an individual. My hope is this project culminates in empowerment for people and a sense that individual choices are accessible for all.”

Read the UH News story.

Read the Star-Advertiser story.

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