Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 14, Number 1, 1 January 1997 — ANA grant helps Hawaiians grow with native plants [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ANA grant helps Hawaiians grow with native plants

by Kelli Meskin The Administration for Native Americans has provided a three-year $630,000 grant ..

to the Office of Hawaiian Affairs for the Ho'oulu Mea Kanu ("causing to grow") project for growing native plants. OHA will contribute personnel and support * services equaling 20 percent of the , total project cost. Onee the program is set up within OHA's eeonomie development division (whieh is expected to take 2-3 months) at least 60 Hawaiians will be recruited to grow native plants through Ho'oulu Mea Kanu. "We will recruit Hawaiians who want to grow native plants and start with easier species of plants," said Jeai Luka, OHA's eeonomie development speciahst.

A first phase of recruiting for farmers and would-be farmers is expected to begin in the spring. When the program is up and running, OHA will recruit approximately 20 farmers in different geographic areas on O'ahu. In its second year

the project will expand to Moloka'i and to the island of Hawai'i in the third. Participants will learn propagation and the business skills needed to develop viable horticultural ventures. The training, plant seedlings, and inihal start-up materials will be provided. Gardening tools, time and effort are the responsibihty of the farmers. Ho'oulu Mea Kanu allows Hawaiians

in both urban and rural areas to create small business and supplement their ineome, should they desire, after their businesses are successful- —

, ly launched and stable. An expected result will be the conservation of native plant

species and an increased use of native plants for medicinal, omamental and landscape purposes. Onee grown to market size, the plants will be marketed by OHA and not the farmer. . A eommon problem that start-up businesses face in developing their own small-scale farming operation is marketing and the inability to compete with larger agribusiness enterprises due to a laek of capital investment and inability to meet market demands. The timehness of this project is critical. Thereis a demand from landscaping firms and other retail markets for native plants. A state resolution passed in 1994 requires 10 percent of the plants used in public landscaping to be native species. Furthermore, as Kaho'olawe's ordnance elean-up and reforestation project begins, a Iarge quantity of native plants will be required. With all these demands for native plants, OHA's work in the

marketing area wih ensure stable ineome for the

: farmers.

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