Hawaii Island producers face significant challenges in securing affordable and timely access to input supplies such as seeds, fertilizers, and equipment. Due to the island’s geographic isolation, input costs are substantially higher compared to the mainland, and disruptions in global supply chains can lead to shortages of essential materials. This impacts both the profitability and productivity of smallholder farms. For instance, many farmers struggle to obtain fertilizers and pesticides at competitive prices, which affects crop yields and overall farm viability. As a result, producers are increasingly looking toward localized solutions, such as the creation of community-based seed banks and cooperative purchasing groups.
The high cost of imported inputs also limits farmers’ ability to experiment with new crops or scaling their production. Programs focused on the localization of input production could greatly reduce costs and increase resilience. For example, community-run fertilizer production or seed propagation initiatives could help producers become less dependent on external supplies. Additionally, fostering partnerships between input suppliers and farmers through cooperative purchasing agreements would enable smallholders to buy inputs in bulk at lower prices. Strengthening input supply chains would have a direct positive impact on other areas of the value chain, such as production, by improving farmers’ ability to adopt more sustainable and profitable farming practices.