Food security (and insecurity, for that matter) have become buzzwords — with good reason. According to the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, approximately 85% to 90% of Hawaii’s food is imported.
Ashley McGuigan wants to change that equation. McGuigan is a University of Hawaii-educated botanist and newly minted UH Cooperative Extension faculty member; the extension is the outreach component of UH Manoa’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources. McGuigan is a Fulbright scholar, trained in integrating Indigenous knowledge with scientific research in the face of environmental change. She has field experience in Fiji, Hawaii and other Pacific islands.
McGuigan is using this experience to grow a partnership program between CTAHR and the USDA Southwest Climate Hub to bring knowledge to practice across multiple communities.
McGuigan is convinced that by integrating Indigenous and local agroforestry techniques, Hawaii can grow vastly more food — not just commercially, but in backyards, and that doing so can help people adapt to and alleviate climate challenges.
Agroforestry, she points out, is nothing new in the Aloha State. “It’s been practiced for millennia by ‘oiwi (Native Hawaiians) and enabled a stable supply of food and nutrition prior to European contact. Dr. Natalie Kurashima of Kamehameha Schools has done exemplary research in this area,” she said.
I sat down with McGuigan recently to discuss this subject.
Question: How would you define agroforestry?
Answer: Agroforestry is a practice of integrating trees with crops and/or livestock, and is often shaped by the environment and culture maintaining it. These systems are able to produce a variety of foods throughout the year and also provide essential ecosystem benefits such as shade, windbreaks and water regulation crucial to food system resilience.
Q: Can agroforestry techniques be replicated in backyards or community garden plots?
A: It’s already practiced in local backyards and gardens. Agroforestry techniques can leverage the landscape and local environmental conditions to produce food. For example, if your land is prone to flooding or has drainage areas running across it, water-loving plants like kalo (taro) or water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica) can be grown.
Q: Backyard farmers don’t have a lot of land. Can one grow nutritionally dense foods?
A: Land is at a premium on Oahu, so nutritionally dense plants are a good option. Dark leafy greens are especially well suited to growth in limited spaces, while also providing important nutrients like vitamin A, C and iron. Crops such as lau pele (Abelmoschus manihot) or noninvasive kale or cabbages. Planting foods with multiple edible parts, like uala (sweet potato), kalo and cassava, can also help contribute to micronutrient needs. While most of us know these for their starchy roots, their leaves are all highly nutritious and edible when harvested and cooked properly.
Q: Any tips for managing your backyard farm?
A: The key is to select species that are well suited to the local environment and to manage your crops efficiently by pruning and pollarding — keeping your trees to heights where fruits can be harvested. You’ll also want to be strategic about spatial arrangement of your crops and when to harvest. Integrating nitrogen-fixing plants, like long beans and peas, into nutrient-deficient soil is also beneficial. Planting trees like aalii (Dodonaea viscosa) or ground covers like nanea (Vigna mariana) can also help to stabilize soils, keep soil moist and return important nutrients, thus improving the overall health and productivity of the land.
Q: How do I learn more about agroforestry?
A: There are some great resources available on the National Agroforestry Center website at fs.usda.gov/nac. I also encourage you to consult “Plant Pono” at plantpono.org as a first step to confirm that your planting efforts contribute positively to the environment, avoiding the inadvertent spread of invasive species. Importantly, I also invite individuals or group representatives who would like to share their thoughts about agroforestry and what additional resources would be useful to them to participate in our survey (forms.gle/B3kqn4E3gzhpBqiP9).
The insights gathered from this survey will be instrumental in shaping future programs and initiatives around agroforestry that CTAHR and the USDA Southwest Climate Hub can support.
Rob Kay, a Honolulu-based writer, covers technology and sustainability for Tech View and is the creator of fijiguide.com. He can be reached at Robertfredkay@gmail.com.
