Question: The $50,000 agriculture grants are a great idea (https://808ne.ws/513kline) but I wish they would give more than 20. Can they award more? If funding is limited, why not give smaller dollar amounts to more farmers?

Answer: If Honolulu County’s new Agricultural Grant Program receives a “robust response” from qualified applicants the Office of Economic Revitalization will seek more funding to broaden the reach, Dexter Kishida of OER said during an informational webinar Tuesday evening, where similar questions came up.

As you indicated, $1 million in funding the first year would supply 20 grants of $50,000 each to Oahu farmers, ranchers and growers who were active by March 1, 2020, and comply with various federal and state regulations.

An applicant can seek less than $50,000 if they choose, but that is the maximum allowed per grant. Officials considered a lower maximum but ultimately decided the higher amount would have a bigger impact, Kishida said. The program aims to increase agricultural production and expand employment on Oahu.

Kokua Line has received numerous questions about this new program. Here’s another:

Q: Will agricultural grants prioritize funding by the race, ethnicity, gender or socioeconomic status of the applicant (rancher/farmer/grower)? I didn’t see anything about this mentioned on the website FAQ at OahuAgGrants.org, but please double-check as this was a factor in some other federal funding, like mortgage relief.

A: No, not by race, ethnicity or gender, but financial hardship related to the COVID-19 pandemic is required. Here’s the response from Patrick Williams, a spokesman for the Office of Economic Revitalization.

“Agriculture grants are funded by the City and County of Honolulu’s share of the American Rescue Plan Act State Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF). This federal money has different guidelines than other federally funded programs, such as the state of Hawaii’s mortgage relief program that you referenced.

“Because of this, SLFRF doesn’t require programs to prioritize applicants by race, ethnicity, or gender. However, applicants will have to show financial hardship related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The city will collect demographic information from applicants to make sure future phases of the program are equitably disbursed.

“Given Hawaii’s diverse population, it’s likely many applicants will identify as minorities. Hawaii has the largest percentage of racial and ethnic minority farmers of any state, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“To ensure broad access to the application process, the Pacific Gateway Center will provide translation and interpretation in eight languages, thanks to support from Ulupono Initiative. The languages are Hawaiian, Mandarin, Cantonese, Thai, Laotian, Samoan, Tagalog, and Ilocano.

“And farmers will be able to get help with their applications from the Oahu Agriculture and Conservation Association, the Hawaii Farm Bureau, and The Kohala Center.”

Williams also expressed appreciation that the “grants were first proposed by Honolulu City Council Vice-Chair Esther Kia‘aina and unanimously supported by the Council with Resolution 21-079, CD1, FD1.”

Grant applications for this program are not yet open, but are expected to be posted online in early June, Kishida said. In the meantime, prospective applicants can prepare to apply by watching an informational webinar posted on the office’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/oer.honolulu. The webinar explains steps to complete now, to ensure that an application is processed smoothly. Prospective applicants can sign up for email notifications about the grants at OahuAgGrants.org.

Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.