In the tragic aftermath of Lahaina’s destruction, our hearts and minds must focus on how to correct the errors and reprioritize our public and private investments to insure such a tragedy never happens again.

A major contributing factor to the Lahaina fire was our outdated extractive land management practices. Integral to those practices was a complete failure to replace the demise of the plantation era with a more resilient food production agriculture system.

As a consequence, Hawaii now imports 90% of the food we eat while thousands of acres of prime ag land sit idle, covered in ready-to-burn dried weed grasses, while precious fresh water is diverted to upscale housing, military and tourist infrastructure instead of fishponds, loi and modern ag systems.

We are hugely vulnerable to more fires while our food systems are plagued with problems and inefficiencies and have shrunken in capacity over the last 30 years.

Our future doesn’t have to and shouldn’t follow this model. We can choose to redirect our resources to develop resilient, sustainable land and water management and food production systems.

Key to making these possible is to incorporate the latest tools, techniques and technologies into our systems so they are maximally efficient, producing high-quality products while reducing land and water requirements.

To develop a strong, technologically advanced, economically viable agricultural sector we need to incorporate advanced “AgTech.” AgTech includes advanced digital, engineering and biological tools that increase precision, reduce labor and make agriculture more productive.

These modern ag systems can produce high-paying jobs using AI and other technologies rather than manual labor of the plantation era. Instead of shovels and hoes, think of modern farming with drones, robots, machine learning, remote monitoring systems, artificial intelligence and advanced breeding systems.

Hawaii Once Was Self-Sufficient

Most AgTech now focuses on large-scale production in temperate climates like the U.S. mainland. Yet some 80% of the world’s food comes from farms under five acres, like most Hawaii farms. Finding ways for small tropical farmers to succeed can go a long way to solving critical food shortages, especially in the tropics where 40% of the world’s people live.

Investors put $51 billion into AgTech startups in 2021. Some of that investment can and should be directed to innovation in Hawaii, specifically for tropical small farms.

An excellent way to learn about this alternative future is at the upcoming THRIVE Hawaii Agrifood Summit at the Hawaii Convention Center Sept. 26-27. Visit www.HawaiiAgrifood.com to learn more and be part of this solution.

“Our geographical location, strong R&D and our host culture’s emphasis on sustainability, knowledge of agriculture and land management make Hawaii an ideal location for innovating AgTech solutions for small tropical farms,” notes Richard Ha, one of our agriculture and renewable energy thought leaders.

Hawaii has a rich history of agriculture innovation. Before contact, Hawaii was self-sufficient for food, feeding hundreds of thousands of people.

They grew a variety of plants and animals that they brought on their sailing canoes to cultivate and breed once they reached these shores. They bred taro, for example, into 150 different named varieties.
Hawaiians also developed more than 350 fishponds (lokoia) across the islands. These ponds were unique in all of Oceania, demonstrating a keen knowledge of the nearshore environment, fish biology and coastal engineering.

Some of our farms already use AgTech, demonstrating viability and attracting technologically prone youth. Ag innovation has developed grafted macadamia nuts, hydroponic systems, Kona coffee, orchids, anthuriums, virus-resistant papaya and microalgae as a nutraceutical.

We can stimulate more innovation and entrepreneurship by introducing AgTech to Hawaii farmers and interested high school and college youth and by familiarizing innovators and investors with innovation in Hawaii

We hope the private and public sectors in Hawaii see the incredible opportunity before us to grow profitable farms, diversify our economy and create fulfilling, life-supporting jobs and opportunities while enhancing sustainability for these islands and our people.