UH launches initiative to advance local food production

With 87% of its food imported to the islands, Hawaii faces the likelihood of becoming increasingly vulnerable to shortages and rising prices as climate change plays havoc with agriculture on the mainland and elsewhere.

Now the University of Hawaii is launching a project that aims to lessen the islands’ reliance on imported food by identifying the best ways to grow and distribute food locally using a combination of traditional island knowledge and modern science.

The first-of-its kind Climate-Resilient Food Innovation Network, or CliRFIN, will serve as a hub for an effort that will support agricultural innovation and resilience in Hawaii and the U.S-­ affiliated Pacific islands.

“There’s a growing awareness about where food comes from and how it’s produced,” said Erik Franklin, CliRFIN’s director and an associate research professor at UH’s Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology.

“There’s also a desire by consumers for locally produced food,” Franklin said. “A colleague of mine talks about plate miles. How many miles did it take for the food to get on your plate?”

Franklin said the initiative hopes to start cutting down the number of plate miles here in Hawaii.

The university was awarded a $1 million, 24-month grant for the project as part of the first-ever U.S. National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines Development Awards, which aim to help “regional partners collaborate to create economic, societal and technological opportunities.”

UH was one of 44 awards granted nationally, and eventually will be eligible for another NSF award of up to $160 million covering a 10-year period.

Over the next two years, the initiative will assess, evaluate and investigate opportunities for expanding food systems and workforce development in the region. Officials will plan and prioritize, set goals and objectives and establish a network of organizations before pursuing the big NSF grant and other sources of funding.

The initiative, Franklin said, aims to integrate Indigenous and Western methods in the areas of aquaculture, fishing and agriculture to develop “a transformative and holistic approach” that will sustain food systems in the islands.

Franklin said a whole suite of emerging technologies could help food production in the islands. Drones, for example, could be deployed in any number of applications, and advanced sensors are capable of remotely evaluating soil conditions, sunlight levels and more.

In Franklin’s work, he’s supplied advance sensors to the folks who care for the Heeia Fishpond in Kaneohe to help them better understand water conditions.

Franklin said he expects breadfruit, or ulu, to be an early focus of CliRFIN. An important staple crop in the Pacific for more than 3,000 years, breadfruit declined in popularity in Hawaii by the 20th century with a shift toward cheap, imported starches, growing urbanization and changing lifestyles.

But in recent years, breadfruit’s standing has been elevated to the status of super food — high in protein, low in fat, gluten-free, with lots of omega-3s, antioxidants, folate, fiber and phytonutrients.

“It has strong potential,” he said, adding that the initiative wants to help those already bringing ulu to market.

Already, a number of private-sector innovators, venture capitalists and government and educational entities have signed up for the CliRFIN network. They include the East-West Center, nonprofit investor Elemental Excelerator, aquaculture startup funder HATCH, Hawai‘i Good Food Alliance, Hawaii Technology Development Corp., Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority, Pacific Disaster Center Global, Hawai‘i ‘Ulu Cooperative and the University of Guam.

According to its plan, CliRFIN will receive support from a variety of UH Manoa’s leadership teams, including the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, College of Tropical Agriculture &Human Resources, Department of Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences, Sea Grant College Program and College of Engineering.

In addition, CliRFIN plans to build an agricultural workforce and will engage a group of 18 minority-serving institutions for Native Hawaiians, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders from the U.S. territories of Guam and American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Republic of Palau, Marshall Islands and Federated States of Micronesia.

Franklin said climate change is likely to heighten concerns about food security in the islands.

“We need to shift to self-­sufficiency and control our own destiny.”