Staple Foods Actions

VALUE CHAINS

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Producers

Commodities

System

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Staple Food Commodities

Hawai'i Island

Constraints

Below is a list of the current Initiatives, Projects, Coalitions and Huis involving HIAP members that support the staple food commodities value chain and seek to address key challenges faced by producers and other stakeholders.

Tropical AgTech Hub

Anchored at the Foreign Trade Zone facility adjacent to Hilo Airport, this project will establish a state-of-the-art facility for identifying and introducing new agrifood technologies and innovations to Hawai’i Island’s farmers and food producers.

Ho'olako

Hawaiʻi Island’s Agricultural Innovation Park and Food System Campus dedicated to pioneering innovative solutions to Hawaiʻi's food scarcity and dependency problems.

Upgrade former Miko Meats Facility

Upgrade existing processing facility in Hilo to increase kitchen facilities and small scale processing capacity.

Expanded Agroforestry Production and Processing

Expand breadfruit agroforestry production and processing by upgrading the East Hawai?i Island processing facility.

Polynesian Crop Production and Education

Increase the availability of Polynesian crops through nursery expansion and educational programing .

Waste Management Value Chain Program

Integrate closed loop waste strategies.

Agricultural Workforce Development Program

Public-private review and collective improvement of education, training and technical services needed to build the workforce needed to enable sustain growth in the Agriculture Sector.

Market Systems Development Initiative

Train multi-stakeholder teams to identify high potential growth opportunities, establish market linkages to develop them and diffuse innovations that create a multiplier effect throughout the market system.

Business & Technical Assistance Program

Increase access to technical assistance in business development, marketing, and capitalization services for farms, processors and aggregators island-wide.

Below are the strategies established by HIAP to address key challenges and opportunities within the staple food commodities value chain. HIAP seeks to identify alignment with these three strategies in order to stitch together smaller projects and efforts into broader strategic impacts.

Value Chain Development

The Value Chain Development Strategy focuses on building the infrastructure needed to strengthen the agricultural value chains on Hawaiʻi Island, particularly for small and mid-sized farms. This includes enhancing processing, storage, aggregation, and distribution capacities to add value to local agricultural products. By improving market access and providing value-added opportunities, the strategy aims to boost local production and profitability.

Market Development

The Market Systems Development Strategy focuses on increasing the resilience and competitiveness of Hawaiʻi Island’s agricultural market. It seeks to connect supply and demand by strengthening linkages and fostering collaboration between local producers, service providers, and market actors. The strategy also emphasizes the use of market data and collaborative action to identify and scale market opportunities for local products.

Workforce Development

The Workforce Development Strategy aims to address the workforce challenges facing Hawaiʻi Island’s agricultural sector. By aligning education and training programs with the needs of smallholder farms and agribusinesses, the strategy seeks to build a local workforce equipped with the skills required for the agricultural economy. Public-private partnerships play a key role in delivering training and developing pathways for entrepreneurship.

Below is a list of the current Collaborations amongst HIAP's members that support the staple food commodities value chain and seek to address key challenges faced by producers and other stakeholders.

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Integrated AgTech Business Model

Develop an integrated business model for sustainable tropical AgTech support and services to Hawai'i Island's farmers

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Imported Fertilizer Pilot

A pilot project designed to source lower cost fertilizer and other input supplies for farmers.

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Staple Food Commodities 2

Intervention Plan for the Value Chain Analysis group training via remote access on Zoom.

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Staple Food Commodities 1

Intervention Plan for the Value Chain Analysis group training in person at the Hamakua Institute.

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Agriculture Innovation Center

Establish a shared agriculture and food processing facility to increase the amount of value-added processing from local food production and decrease the island's dependency on imported process foods.

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Kubota-Hawaii AgTech Collaboration

Kubota collaboration with HIAP and the Tropical AgTech partners, focusing on identifying market needs, showcasing advanced agricultural equipment, and facilitating knowledge transfer.

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Soybean Value Chain pilot

Pilot project to explore the viability of increasing local soybean production to open new opportunities for farmers growing soybeans. Soybeans are being processed and sold to supermarkets and catering services.

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Market Analysis & Development

Collectively identify Hawaiʻi Island’s comparative and competitive market advantages. Analyze demand for new value added agricultural and food products and develop shared marketing strategy.

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Value Chain Pilot Projects

Industry partners implement pilot projects focused on introducing solutions to overcome systemic constraints and stimulate new income and employment growth where it is needed most.

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Value Chain Analysis

Market systems facilitators work with industry partners to analyze three value chains: staple food crops, export crops, and agricultural services. Identify systemic constraints and recommend pilot projects for stimulating growth

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Market Systems Facilitation

Train cohort of mid-career professionals how to understand market systems, use diagnostic tools to identify systemic constraints and develop potential strategies for equitable growth.

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Hawai'i Island Clusters of Opportunity

Hawaiʻi Island clusters of economic opportunity data collection, analysis and leadership forum. Facilitate collaborative action planning and follow-up high potential clusters and value chains.

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