OAR: ‘Ohana Agricultural Resilience

The ‘Ohana Agricultural Resilience (OAR) program trains North Kohala residents to grow food for themselves and their community. Kahua Pa‘a Mua believes that the North Kohala community is strengthened through a multi-generational, family-based approach to training.

The OAR project has two goals:

1. To strengthen community resilience.

2. Increase food self-reliance and access to healthy, locally grown food for residents of North Kohala.

OAR is training and equipping families to efficiently grow their own backyard protein (fish and pork) with aquaponics systems for fish and vegetables, and odorless pig pen systems for pork. The project also provides training, land, equipment and infrastructure for growing crops. Participants are growing and distributing surplus yields of fresh, locally grown vegetables to the North Kohala community.

Families attend training in subjects such as Animal Husbandry (pigs); Aquaponics; Natural Farming; Crops Cultivation; Equipment Use and Repair; Food Processing; Food Safety; Agricultural Entrepreneurship; Fencing; Irrigation. Free backyard aquaponics and pig systems are given to participant families who attend all the required training sessions.

‘Ohana Agricultural Resilience (OAR) is funded through a grant from the USDA NIFA Community Food Projects Competitive Grants Program with additional support from the Atherton Family Foundation. Our OAR Families expanded food production in order to assist families impacted by COVID-19 with support from the Dorrance Family Foundation.

Key benefits of our program

Training to Grow Crops and Animals: OAR families are trained to grow crops using Natural Farming and other non-chemical methods of soil preparation, planting, fertilizing and pest control. Families learn a variety of essential farm skills: Fencing, irrigation, equipment repair, making natural fertilizers and pesticides, soil preparation, pest control, planting, cultivation and animal husbandry.

Backyard Fish, Chickens and Pigs: In partnership with MALAMA Waimanalo, OAR families received training in how to build and maintain low-cost backyard aquaponics systems to grow fish and vegetables. Other backyard systems are a deep litter pig systems and chicken tractors. Having a backyard protein system builds family cohesion, supports healthy eating and provides food for a family and the community. Families who complete the program receive a free aquaponics, chicken or pig system for their backyards.

Distributing Food: Food self-sufficiency and community resiliency have always been goals for Kahua Pa’a Mua, but no one could have predicted how relevant the OAR project was to become as our North Kohala community was economically impacted by layoffs due to COVID-19. OAR families self-organized to plant more crops and have been growing and giving away hundreds of pounds of beans, cucumbers, bok choy, zucchini, lettuce and poi, with more to come.

Kahua Pa’a Mua employs a multi-generational approach to learning based on the Hawaiian culture. Melding modern methods with traditional knowledge we are seeding a “Backyard Revolution,” providing families with the resources to grow food in their own backyards.