Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** located over 2,000 miles from the…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** located over 2,000 miles from the continental U.S., hawaii imports about 85%-90% of its food, making IT particularly vulnerable to disruptions in the food supply. In addition, hawaii's geographic isolation makes IT even more imperative to support local food systems and farmers within hawaii, especially in times of disaster. On august 8TH, 2023, 90MPH winds caused wildfires to devastate communities throughout the island of maui. This catastrophic event has been called the deadliest recorded natural disaster in hawaii. Not only was the entire town of lahaina lost, but other regions of the island sustained much damage, much of IT being agricultural lands. The devastation of this natural disaster is immense and has had a substantial detrimental impact on hawaii's fragile food system and the general agricultural industry in maui county, including the loss of critical markets and outlets for farmers and the widespread loss of agricultural infrastructure on farms. This project aims to support the maui farmers and producers whom this natural disaster has impacted. Sustainable molokai will take a multi-prong approach to fill the needs of maui farmers and producers for this proposed extension project. Our focus will be to support new market opportunities for those farmers who lost a large portion of their markets due to the wildfires on maui. This increased support for maui producers will allow them to keep these businesses intact while the local economy can be rebuilt. Sustainable molokai will also provide financial and educational trainingthrough a disaster grant program. Affected maui farmers can apply for funding to help restore farm losses while gaining more education and training on strategies for agricultural resiliency. These farmers will receive 1-1 consultations and a specialized educational plan tailored to their individual farm business needs. Through these innovative approaches, sustainable molokai aims to help support food security for maui county during this time of disaster and into the future by supporting the most critical piece of agriculture – our farmers.