MALAMA `INA: A CONVERSATION ABOUT MAUI’S FARMING FUTURE A PROJECT OF THE MAUI TOMORROW FOUNDATION Looking towards Iao Valley Prepared for Maui Tomorrow Foundation, Inc. March 8, 2016 Report by Permaculture Design International LLC Copyright 2016 by Maui Tomorrow Foundation, Inc. rural lifestyle. Table of Contents FARM ENTERPRISE OPPORTUNITIES 28 INTRODUCTION 1 A Brief Overview of Maui’s “Central Valley” CONCLUSION 35 and Sugarcane 2 REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE 3 APPENDICES 36 Climate Change and Regenerative Agriculture 5 Regenerative Agricultural Land Use Potential and Transition Strategy 6 Transition to Regenerative Agriculture 9 Mainframe Design 13 Methods to Reduce Overhead 13 Livestock and Holistic Management 14 16 Case Studies and Precedents 17 19 Biofuels 20 WATER AND SOIL 22 Water 22 Soil 24 Soil Building Strategies and Bioremediation 25 Cover illustration by Silvia Yordanova Copyright 2016 by Maui Tomorrow Foundation, Inc. INTRODUCTION - love and respect the land, make it yours and claim stewardship for it keep large tracts of contiguous farmland intact, and make farming more affordable. Maui’s - care for and nurture the land farming future is tied to this land. so it can give back all we need to sustain life for ourselves and our future generations people moving forward? For 150 years Maui -Puanani Rogers, Ho`okipa Network agriculture has been large-scale, mono-crop, chemical dependent, and export oriented. Beloved Maui is at a crossroads. The January Laguna Blanca, Argentina. Twelve years after transi- Can a new farming model bring both economic 2016 announcement by Alexander and Baldwin (A&B) that Hawaiian Commercial http://www.tompkinsconservation.org/farm_laguna_ & Sugar (HC&S) will be ending their 36,000 blanca.htm concerned about the loss of jobs for so many families, and want to see Maui’s agricultural wide open to a much-needed conversation legacy continue. regarding what the future of farming on Maui can truly be. It’s an opportunity to invite all This report is the start of a community the stakeholders into this discussion with the conversation - bringing our diverse people spirit of aloha, and draw on our collective mana`o to consider how we will plan ahead to solutions that are pono. With that in mind, there are many stories that need to be told, so it can sustain life for ourselves and future and conversations that need to take place. generations. This report offers a window into abundant, resilient a way Maui now imports upwards of 90% of its food forward that prioritizes food crops, livestock, and energy, most of our building materials, and all of our textiles - a precarious reality build a whole farming economy that is just and for a remote island. We need many more MA’O Organic Farms Hawai`i Investment Ready Pro- environmentally sound. living wage jobs, ample affordable housing, gram abundant and affordable local food, and clean http://social-impact.org/regional-programs/invest- ment-ready-hawaii The key points addressed will touch on these water to provide for our 145,000 citizens and important questions : 2.6 million tourists annually. • What kinds of crops will grow here well and The closure of the HC&S sugarcane enterprise Facing the future, we have choices - what will is an opening to the next generation of • Should we prioritize food crops over farming look like on Maui from this moment commodity crops, and why? Can we have forward? This question is intimately tied to the sugarcane plantation land owned by HC&S both? wai, our precious water resources, and any are in question, of which 27,000 acres are • How do we remediate contaminated soils answers must offer solutions that care for and designated Important Agricultural Land, and and aquifers? restore watersheds. Copyright 2016 by Maui Tomorrow Foundation, Inc. 1 INTRODUCTION • Will A&B sell the 27,000 acres now A Brief Overview of Maui’s “Central designated as Important Agricultural Valley” and Sugarcane Lands? If so, at what price? • What would be the implications of The central valley of Maui, once a native dryland alternative ownership scenarios, such as forest, is now a wind-swept arid landscape with intermittent streams that were once perennial. some combination thereof? Streams such as Pulehunui, Kalialinui, Kailua, Pohakukea, Waikapu and others were free This report is a snapshot of what is possible, logging on upper slopes. This area previously from similar climates there are compelling precedents and sound science the world over that support transitioning from conventional to Portuguese sugar workers - 6,000 in 1913 areas such as Waikapu. Most native Hawaiians https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portuguese_immigration_to_ will need further research and detail before the sophisticated ahupua`a-based farming and proceeding. aquaculture systems were developed. Master • Can we have diverse livestock operations and what would that look like? plenty of food to feed upwards of a million • How many more jobs can we create with people across the islands. • Does Maui have enough farmers for all Before the sugarcane era the central valley these businesses? was sparsely populated and was not intensively • How can we assure long-term access to farmed. The birth of the sugarcane industry land for farmers? changed the face of the central valley and • Can affordable housing be integrated into all of Maui forever. Water from the northeast the design? coast of Maui was diverted to irrigate the sugar • Does regenerative agriculture use less Japanese sugarcane workers 1885 crop, impoverishing stream ecosystems and water, and can some of that water be https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/84/42/80/ negatively impacting communities by restricting returned to East Maui watersheds? 844280dac7ef0154bde250816a634ba2.jpg their access to water, and hence their ability to • Can we and should we expand agritourism? grow traditional foods. The once-parched land • What type of infrastructure do we have for “food hubs” - processing, creating sugarcane industry has dominated the local value-added products, improving local distribution, and providing education for stakeholders is the foundation for the success years. Waves of immigrant workers came to farmers? of any project. We look forward to hearing • How can we bring all the stakeholders to your stories, addressing your questions and settled down to raise families. the table, including A&B, in a transparent concerns, and incorporating new ideas. and meaningful way? 2 Copyright 2016 by Maui Tomorrow Foundation, Inc. INTRODUCTION The sugarcane industry the world over has shifted to chemical farming and systematic HC&S has been unable to compete on mechanization of jobs. On Maui, as in other the world market in recent years, and after places, not only has the number of industry reporting $30 million in losses in 2015, they jobs decreased steadily, but the use of more recently announced they will be shuttering the and different agricultural chemicals has last remaining plantation, not only on Maui, contaminated the soil and the main Pai`a but in the State of Hawai`i. 675 planters and aquifer, which is now polluted to the point skilled mill workers will be laid off this year. where the water is considered unsuitable for drinking. Regenerative Agriculture Pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, synthetic fertilizers, and ripening agents such as Regenerative agriculture glyphosate have been applied to the soil for farm management practices and site design years, with very little independent research to build ecological and economic resiliency at available to evaluate any deleterious effects every opportunity. Regenerative agricultural on farm workers, neighbors, the groundwater, Herb Kane’s painting of Ka`anapali pre-contact the ocean, and endemic wildlife. There are no http://herbkanehawaii.com USDA National Organic Standards, and are legal obligations for HC&S to remediate the applicable at any scale. soils or the aquifers. Systematically increasing soil health is This style of agriculture, a monoculture the foundation of regenerative agriculture. crop with substantial chemical inputs, has Building healthy soil improves crop yields and resistance to pests, and makes crops more global warming - rather than sequestering carbon in healthy soil, repeated tillage and inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides, the application of nitrogen-based synthetic improves the water holding capacity by adding fertilizers release large amounts of CO2 into organic matter to the soil, and dramatically increases carbon sequestration as a byproduct amounts of pesticides have been applied to of the above functions. Regenerative central Maui soils, and these chemicals or agricultural systems are based on perennial their derivatives have now shown up in the crops with sustained yields using resources soil. Mechanization and global transportation generated on-site, as compared to annual of commodity crops only adds more CO2 to agriculture which is often dependent on tillage the atmosphere, an externality that industrial and external inputs. agriculture has passed on to the citizens of the Ka`anapali today world. www.islandbreath.blogspot.com Copyright 2016 by Maui Tomorrow Foundation, Inc. 3 REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE Regenerative Agriculture: farming operations, and systems are integrated so that there is synergy and economy of management. • Improves water and mineral cycles on agricultural lands through contour farming and The reduction