HONOLULU — Mayor Rick Blangiardi on Tuesday advanced the City and County of Honolulu’s strategy to support local agriculture with the rollout of $3 million in grants to small farmers, ranchers, and growers on Oʻahu.
“We are working with farmers, nonprofits, and private funders to create an Oʻahu where more of our food is grown, harvested and prepared for our tables by our neighbors,” said Mayor Blangiardi. “Given our island’s dependence on imported foods, this program more than makes sense.
“Oʻahu’s small farmers, ranchers and growers will be able to use these funds to invest in their own success by creating good jobs for our communities and making improvements to their properties and operations, both of which are incredibly important for our agricultural economy as a whole,” the mayor added.
“I am so excited about the announcement of the City’s inaugural awards under this grant program,” said Honolulu City Council Vice-Chair Esther Kiaʻāina. “These grants will allow businesses from across Oʻahu, including Waiʻanae, Kunia, Mililani, Kahuku, Waipahū, and Waimānalo to provide local produce to our communities and contribute to Oʻahu’s agricultural industry, food security, and economic diversification.”
Vice-Chair Kiaʻāina originally proposed the grants as part of a broader strategy to support local agriculture producers with federal funds, including the City’s State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. The City Council unanimously supported the grants.
The Office of Economic Revitalization (OER) has begun awarding a total of 66 grants, ranging from about $10,000 to as much as $49,000, to small farmers, ranchers and growers who qualified for the $3 million agriculture grant. The complete awardee list is available at oahuaggrants.org.
OER and its partners held nine “how-to-apply” workshops in the fall of 2022 to encourage applications from small agriculture producers who suffered financial hardship during the pandemic. Applications were available in English, Cantonese, Hawaiian, Ilocano, Lao, Samoan, Tagalog, Thai, and Tongan. A total of 127 farmers, ranchers, and growers applied, including a completed application entirely in Hawaiian.
Mahalo to Ulupono Initiative, Pacific Gateway Center, the Hawaii Farm Bureau, the Oʻahu Agriculture and Conservation Association, and the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement for helping small farmers, ranchers, and growers to apply.
—PAU—