Hawai’i Island Agriculture and Food
System Study
Mapping of Agricultural and Food Systems - Sub-Team #1 Meeting
July 8th, 2020
Held via Zoom
1. Participants
First | Last | Organization |
Gregory | Chun | UH-Hilo |
Lisa | DeSantis | Hawai’i Public Health Institute (HIPHI) |
David | Elliott | The Gallus Edge |
Dennis | Flemming | Hamakua Institute |
Sarah | Freeman | Hawai’i County R&D |
Hunter | Heaivilin | HIPHI |
Sharon | Hurd | Department of Agriculture (DoA) |
Andrea | Kuch | Hamakua Institute |
Eva | Lee | Tea Hawai’i & Company |
Noa | Lincoln | UH Mānoa, CTAHR |
Ming Wei | Koh | Hawaii Island School Garden Network/Center for Getting Things Started |
Leslie | Nugent | North Kohala Community Resource Center |
Leanne | Okamoto | Kamehameha Schools |
2. Introduction
This sub-team will be focused on the bigger picture and taking a more macro-level view during the study. The study process is intended to be a collective effort with a cross-section of stakeholders providing input throughout the process, from scoping and planning, to data collection and analysis. Mapping the agriculture and food systems on-island will be a key part of the study, given HIAP and HIFA are both initiatives looking system-wide to improve agriculture and food resiliency. It was noted that dialogue will continue to be a core part of the study since the purpose of the process is to shape HIAP and HIFA’s future action plans.
3. Meeting Objectives
Objectives for the meeting were to:
· Agree upon the purpose of the sub-team;
· Identify the most useful maps and diagrams for the study; and
· Identify people and resources who can help.
4. Strategic Framework for Sub-Team
The following strategic framework for the sub-team was presented at the meeting and agreed upon by participants:
5. Objective 1: Mapping the Big Picture
Overview
· This sub-team will be using a variety of mapping tools to understand the agriculture and food systems
· What emerges from this team will be used as foundational data to do deeper dives into specific agriculture value chains and food supply chains by the other sub-teams
· The other two sub-teams will be feeding information to this team and vice versus, particularly data that needs to be mapped
System-wide Data
· There’s an infinite level of data that can be captured with the study. Putting boundaries around the scope of the study will be a responsibility of the sub-teams, in particular the Agriculture Value Chain and Food Resiliency Sub-Teams
o The Google Drive will be used to store and organize data
· Purpose of the study is to build upon what’s already been done as much as possible, to not reinvent the wheel but to instead gather as much secondary data from existing studies
· Primary data will be gathered, mainly through focus groups and interviews
o There are some resources available to conduct surveys if needed to gather key primary data that’s not already available
· The study will be looking at system-wide data for both the agriculture and food systems, seeking to better understand the integration points between the two systems. This will be shown diagrammatically in the form of a streetmap. The following example illustrates how the streetmap will be used to show the intersection points between local agricultural production and local food consumption
6. Objective 2: Geographical Information
Location Data
· We need to consistently ask the question, “To what end?”, while gathering data
· A key challenge will be finding county-level data, most agricultural data is aggregated at the state level
· Layering data will also be important to help organize the information
· Useful location data to map includes:
o Land usage
o Market actors
o Agricultural assets
o Location of farms and potential production numbers
§ The Melrose study, which has been a seminal document, only looked at farms larger than three acres. Might want to consider having that same threshold
§ Look into aggregating data from farmers markets
o Value-added processing equipment
o Energy infrastructure (wind mills, etc.)
o Distribution points, drop-off points, and routes
· It will be critical to understand what data is available and what data will need to be tabled
· Farmers might be more forthcoming with data given the COVID-19 situation because they want to let organizations and initiatives know where they are and how to access them
· For data collection, we will work with different producer associations
o The intention is that they will see the value in sharing information to get greater attention for the sector
o Planning to also work through industry associations to access data
· What we want is a common pool of data that everyone can mine for their own purposes to boost agriculture overall
· Three important stakeholder groups the study can benefit include:
o Consumers
o Investors
o Those seeking federal funding opportunities
· Suggestion was made to speak with the Hawaii Farm Bureau, Dept. of Agriculture, and the Hawaii Food Industry for data
7. Objective 3: Relationships
Social Network Mapping and Analysis
· The intention is to use stakeholder mapping and social network analysis to better understand relationships within the food and agriculture systems, although it’s still unknown how in-depth the analysis can go
· The mapping will also look at better understanding overlapping interests between HIAP, HIFA, and Vibrant Hawaii
o Overall, the aim is to build even greater coordination and collaboration between the various collective impact initiatives by increasing the understanding of who’s doing what with whom
· Regular HIAP and HIFA meetings can be used to gather data by having focus group-like discussions
o Suggestion was made to use HIAP and HIFA to reach out to a wider group to get more diverse feedback rather than only talking to those who regularly attend meetings
· The sub-team should look at what Ulupono has already done in terms of stakeholder analysis
· Ideas for data to include on stakeholder and social network maps include:
o Big market actors in the food and agriculture systems
o The estimated influence and value of relationships
o Big off-island influencers (i.e. investors)
o Those particularly interested and involved in climate change and environmental activities
8. Objective 4: Processes
Imports and Exports
· There are sensitivities between import versus export issues
· We want to find the “sweet spot” where we can simultaneously improve food security for local communities while also helping to increase farmer revenue, both of which affect and are affected by import and export issues
· It will also be important to map the flow of agriculture and food products coming into the island, from the other islands and the mainland
· Import data tracking is supposed to be under the purview of the Dept. of Agriculture
9. Next Steps and Conclusion
The discussion concluded by mentioning that the two other sub-teams, which focus on agricultural value chains and food resiliency and sustainability, will be meeting later in July.