The Agriculture Program provides facilitative leadership to both the public and private sectors to support the sustainable development of agriculture, forestry, aquaculture, and other natural resources. Activities include financial support and coordination of agricultural research, education, and marketing programs; data collection, compilation and dissemination to County policymakers and other interested parties; management of collaborative research and development projects; advocacy for local farmers and commodity groups at State and Federal levels.

Improving Community Food Security Program Grants Awarded 

The County of Hawai‘i Department of Research and Development, in collaboration with The Food Basket Inc., Hawai’i Island’s Food Bank, announces the award of $500,000 in grants to organizations that strengthen community food security and economic resilience across Hawaiʻi Island.

The grants are part of the County’s Improving Community Food Security Program. The program supports the expansion of food storage and distribution on the island and enables organizations to purchase essential equipment and supplies that strengthen long-term food security efforts.

Funding originates from the American Rescue Plan Act’s State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF), a federal program designed to address the public health and economic impacts of COVID-19.

Awardees:

Cooper Center Council

PUNA - Cooper Center Council received funding to enhance dry and cold storage, supporting monthly and emergency food distributions for approximately 500 community members in the Volcano area.

Family Support Services of West Hawaii DBA Family Support Hawaii

NORTH KONA & SOUTH KONA - Family Support Hawaiʻi, in partnership with Ola Mahina Gardens, received funding to expand cold storage, food processing, and transport capacity to strengthen its farm-to-early-childhood program connecting local farms with low-income families to provide nutritious food access across West Hawaiʻi.

Feed Hawaii (DBA Kohala Food Hub)

NORTH KOHALA - Feed Hawai‘i received funding for equipment and supplies to increase warehouse operational capacity at Kohala Food Hub, which supports 150+ local farmers, provides access to fresh food to 900+ households, and supports food assistance programs such as Kaukau for Keiki.

Grace Baptist Church

SOUTH HILO - Grace Baptist Church received funding to upgrade refrigeration, freezer, storage, and food preparation areas, which will help expand the capacity and efficiency of its monthly food pantry serving families across the Hilo area

Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii

NORTH KONA - Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Coalition of Hawaii received funding to increase its freezer and storage capacity for its Māna‘ai Food & Provisions Distribution program and other mobile clinical/social services that provide fresh, dried, and frozen provisions during outreach.

HOPE Services

NORTH KONA & SOUTH HILO - HOPE Services Hawaiʻi received funding to expand cold and dry food storage at its Hilo and Kona emergency shelters, improving daily meal service and food safety for unhoused individuals, veterans, and medical respite guests across Hawaiʻi Island.

Holoholo Ministries

NORTH KONA - Holoholo Ministries received funding to improve food storage and preparation capacity for its Ohana Grindz program. The program provides consistent, nutritious weekly meals to 275+ students at two Kailua-Kona high schools.

Honoka‘a Hongwanji Mission

HĀMĀKUA - Honokaʻa Hongwanji Mission received funding to upgrade its certified kitchen and food distribution facilities to increase the capacity and safety of its meal distribution programs.

Hope DIA-Mend Ministries

KA‘Ū - Hope DIA-Mend Ministries received funding to purchase and outfit a refrigerated trailer, which will expand its capacity to safely store and transport perishable foods for weekly community food distributions serving rural households in Oceanview and across the Kaʻū district.

Hui Malama i ke Ala Ulili (HuiMAU)

HĀMĀKUA - Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili received funding to expand its cold storage capacity, which will strengthen its Community Kitchen Food Distribution Program that provides locally grown food to families in Hāmākua.

Island of Hawaiʻi YMCA

SOUTH HILO - Island of Hawai‘i YMCA received funding to increase the dry storage capacity of its certified kitchen, which provides meals to 2000+ youth in its Youth Development Program and 130+ houseless individuals in its Healthy Living/Feed the Hungry program.

Center for Getting Things Started

PUNA - Center for Getting Things Started, a Puna-based nonprofit, received funding to conduct its Farm to Family program, which provides cooking and nutrition education to keiki and kūpuna in Kaʻū and Kona.

Kona Task Force on Feeding the Hungry

NORTH KONA - Kona Task Force on Feeding the Hungry received funding for dry and cold storage equipment and infrastructure for its Meet and Eat program that serves 300+ weekly meals to families in West Hawai‘i.

Kokua Christian Ministries

SOUTH KOHALA - Kokua Christian Ministries received funding to expand refrigeration and freezer capacity at its Waimea food pantry, enabling the organization to accept and distribute more fresh and perishable foods to 200+ households each month.

KUA o Kanāueue

NORTH KONA - KUA o Kanāueue, in partnership with the West Hawai‘i Regional Hospital Foundation, received funds for a refrigeration unit to help expand its SDOH Meals to Go program that serves families throughout West Hawai‘i.

Laʻiʻōpua 2020 (L2020)

NORTH KONA - Laʻiʻōpua 2020 (L2020) received funding for a large-scale commercial steaming and canning unit to expand the capacity of its Mea‘ai program, which provides shelf-stable canned meals using locally sourced ingredients to families in the greater Kona area.

Living Waters Assembly of God

SOUTH HILO - Living Waters Assemblies of God received funding to expand food pantry storage and add refrigeration and freezer capacity, enabling its food pantry to safely distribute fresh and frozen foods to 120+ households each month 

Loaves and Fishes – Sacred Heart Church

KA‘Ū - Loaves and Fishes – Sacred Heart Church in Nā‘ālehu received funding to expand dry and cold storage for its monthly food distribution and emergency feeding programs.

Malia Puka O Kalani Catholic Church

SOUTH HILO - Malia Puka O Kalani Catholic Church received funding to expand cold and dry food storage, strengthening its monthly food pantry and emergency food distribution serving families across East Hawaiʻi.

North Kohala Community Resource Center

NORTH KOHALA - North Kohala Community Resource Center received funding for equipment and supplies to conduct its canning and food preservation classes that provide training and resources for families in North Kohala for continued home-use.

Orchidland Neighbors

PUNA - Orchidland Neighbors received funding to expand storage capacity for its food pantry program, supporting monthly food distributions to 300+ households in Orchidland Estates and nearby communities.

‘O Ka‘ū Kākou

KA‘Ū - ‘O Ka‘ū Kākou received funding to purchase a secure storage container that will be used across its ʻāina-based programs that provide access to fresh produce for local families and donate surplus food to distribution programs serving the Kaʻū district.

ʻO Makuʻu Ke Kahua

PUNA - ʻO Makuʻu Ke Kahua received funding to purchase a multi-purpose trailer to support its ʻāina-based education, cultural practice, and resilience programs, including Māla Hoʻoulu ʻIke which offers monthly garden education days and the Maku‘u Farmer’s Market, which provides economic opportunities for local producers and improves food access in the greater Puna community.

Puna Makaukau

PUNA - Puna Makaukau received funding to create dedicated cold storage that strengthens its pantry program and Kaukau for Keiki distributions serving families across rural Puna

Rotary Club of Kona Community Foundation

KA‘Ū - The Rotary Club of Kona Community Foundation received funding to upgrade the Nā‘ālehu Hongwanji kitchen into a certified commercial facility, including the installation of walk-in refrigeration, freezer storage, and commercial cooking equipment to expand food access and strengthen soup kitchen services in the Ka‘ū district.

St. James' Episcopal Church

SOUTH KOHALA - St. James’ Episcopal Church received funding to purchase walk-in coolers and freezers for the commercial kitchen in its new community center, The Gathering Place, which supports the Waimea Community Meal and regional food distribution efforts.

St. Theresa / Holy Rosary Parish

PUNA -  St. Theresa / Holy Rosary Parish received funding for a refrigerator and freezer, which will expand its cold storage capacity for its food pantry in Mountain View. The improved storage supports monthly and emergency food distributions serving 130+ households across Puna, Hilo, and Kaʻū.

The Salvation Army

SOUTH HILO - The Salvation Army received funding to expand cold storage capacity at its Hilo Temple Corps with new commercial refrigerators and freezer equipment. The upgraded storage supports the Soup Kitchen, food pantry, and Overnight Safe Space by improving food safety and capacity for weekly meal and grocery distributions serving thousands of East Hawaiʻi residents each year

West Hawaiʻi Community Health Center 

KA‘Ū - West Hawaiʻi Community Health Center received funding to replace and upgrade commercial refrigeration and food storage equipment for the food pantry and hot meal program at St. Jude’s Episcopal Church in Oceanview. The improved storage ensures continuity and food safety for semi-weekly distributions serving 375+ individuals in the Kaʻū community.

The County of Hawaiʻi, in coordination with the Hawaiʻi Department of Agriculture (HDOA), is issuing a three-month voluntary compliance order for parts of West Hawaiʻi to stop the movement of host materials for the coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB).

The voluntary order is effective July 1 through Sept. 30 and applies to an area where CRB detections have occurred in the last six months. Borders of the compliance area include Waikoloa Road, Mamalahoa Highway (Highway 190) from Waikoloa Road to Palani Road in Kailua-Kona, and along the coastline from Palani Road to Waikoloa Road.

“The coconut rhinoceros beetle poses a serious threat to our island’s agriculture, and we are asking for your kōkua to stop the spread before it gets out of hand,” said Mayor Kimo Alameda. “Early intervention and cooperation are key to preventing long-term damage and protecting our island from this destructive invasive species.”

To stop the spread of CRB, residents and business operators in this area are asked not to transport CRB host materials that include:

• Decomposing plant material such as compost, wood or tree chips, and mulch.
• Plant propagation material.
• Other items, such as landscaping material, that are comprised of decomposing organic plant material.
• All live palm plants in the genera Cocos (Coconut palm), Livistona (Fountain palm or Chinese fan palm), Phoenix (Date palm, Canary Island date palm), Pritchardia (Loulu), Roystonea (Royal palm), and Washingtonia (California fan palm, Mexican fan palm) — except unsprouted seeds of these palms.

Residents and business operators within the compliance area who need to get rid of green waste should take the material to proper disposal sites located at the West Hawaiʻi Organics Facility at 71-1111 Queen Ka'ahumanu Highway and Kealakehe Transfer Station at 74-598 Hale Makai Place. These facilities, located within the compliance area, heat compost piles to at least 131 degrees to kill CRB larvae.

Host materials, such as decomposing plant material, can contain CRB eggs, larvae, and adults. Moving such infested materials outside the compliance area could unintentionally spread CRB far beyond its current range, complicating eradication efforts and hindering control measures.

CRB primarily targets coconut and other palm species. However, it will feed on other important crops such as ʻulu, banana and kalo when the palm food sources are eliminated.  

The voluntary compliance order is a precursor to a mandatory compliance structure that is being prepared by the HDOA.

"Controlling the movement of green waste to stop the spread of CRB is a call-to-action that all of us can do to protect Hawaiʻi Island," said Sharon Hurd, Chairperson of the Hawaiʻi Board of Agriculture.

Best Management Practices for CRB Host Materials

Residents can take the following steps to minimize the risk of spreading CRB:

Inspect and Report

• Inspect CRB host materials at least every 4 months, especially finished compost and nearby host palms, for signs of CRB or damage.
• Examine incoming CRB host materials before accepting them to ensure they are not infested with CRB.
• Collect any suspected CRB and report findings or visible CRB damage to HDOA at 808-643-PEST (7378) or the Big Island Invasive Species Committee (BIISC) at 808-933-3340. Reports can also be made online at 643pest.org.  
• If you cannot inspect CRB host materials yourself, contact BIISC, CRB Response (808-679-5244), or HDOA for assistance.  

Properly Manage Materials

• Chip incoming CRB host materials within 48 hours.
• Properly compost CRB host materials by heating piles to at least 131 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Monitor finished materials at least every 4 months (visual during turnover). Once compost cools to around 110 degrees Fahrenheit, it can be infested and is a good breeding material for CRB.
• Do not stockpile or keep a mound of CRB host material. Routinely distribute around plants or thinly spread up to 4 inches in depth to enable it to dry completely.

Prevent the Spread

• Utilize or process CRB host materials that are already on-site for end use, eliminating the need to move potentially infested materials.
• Safeguard CRB host materials that have been properly composted or treated in completely sealed containers that prevent CRB entry. Containers made of metal, concrete or glass are acceptable. CRB can chew through many plastics.
• Ensure CRB host materials are still at acceptable temperatures or are subjected to effective treatment before being transported off site.
• Profume, a restricted use pesticide, is one option for treating certain CRB host materials, such as compost. Call HDOA for additional information about the use of this chemical.
• If you receive CRB host materials, ensure it comes from a reputable source that follows CRB Best Management Practices. Ask suppliers to provide documentation of their CRB prevention efforts.

For questions about moving CRB host materials, please contact Glenn Sako, County Economic Development Specialist, at 808-961-8811.

Click to read news story.

HAWAI’I STATEWIDE COCONUT RHINOCEROS BEETLE COMMUNICATIONS PLAN

This plan is a strategic resource designed to enhance understanding of Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle (CRB) identification, its impacts, and the management practices necessary to protect our islands.