The Hawaii Agricultural Leadership Program

Industry leaders understand that a shift away from the traditional plantation-era model of agriculture is rapidly changing everything. Farmers, processors and distributors who hesitate to adapt are often finding themselves closer to failing than ever before. It is within this context that a new class of leaders from across the agriculture industry were selected for leadership training to help spearhead the change that must take place to grow Hawaii’s agriculture industry in the 21st century. I am incredibly thankful to have been selected to participate.

Over the course of 16 months of seminars, meetings, and site visits to hundreds of local farms across all islands, I found that virtually everything I thought I knew about Hawaii agriculture from all the meetings and hearings at the State Capitol was ultimately short-sighted or wrong. Even with the best intentions, state policy isn’t beginning to address the real issues underlying the challenges the agriculture industry faces. Instead, each year the state has been focused on putting out smaller fires rather than planning ahead responsibly. Talking to farm operators and seeing their challenges first-hand exposed a whole different set of issues that aren’t even on the state’s radar.

The most important experience was spending months getting to know a diverse array of industry leaders in the program so well that we could openly discuss some of the most controversial issues in agriculture, such as organic versus genetically modified food. At the State Capitol legislators are only exposed to the same tired arguments from opposing lobbyists paid to blindly argue one position – which offers little substance and little real understanding of the intricacies of many complex issues. This program was a hands-on learning experience that has already proven itself invaluable.

I am incredibly thankful to have had help from the Waimanalo Agriculture Association, who supported my application to join the 2010 Agricultural Leadership Program. The program has been run for decades by the Agricultural Leadership Foundation of Hawai‘i in conjunction with the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, which recognizes that a healthy, thriving, sustainable agricultural sector is an important component of Hawai‘i’s future.