Four University of Hawaiʻi campuses have been awarded a $1.5-million grant for the Huakaʻi ʻIke ʻĀina (HIʻA) Project to strengthen Native Hawaiian-serving institutions through advancing food and agricultural sciences.
The HIʻA Project aims to address systemic challenges that students face, from financial obstacles to cultural and institutional barriers. Through direct financial support, including scholarships and travel opportunities, the program seeks to empower these students to become future leaders in Hawaiʻi‘s food systems. By providing opportunities for huakaʻi (educational journeys) and experiential ʻāina-based learning, the initiative aims to provide education grounded in cultural relevance and place-based knowledge.
The Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian (ANNH) grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture was awarded to UH West Oʻahu, Leeward Community College, the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) at UH Mānoa and Hawaiʻi Community College.
Fostering collaboration, partnerships
The multi-institutional effort will focus on providing direct financial support to allow underrepresented students to focus on their education without financial strain; conducting experiential learning through ʻāina-based learning activities and cross-campus huakaʻi (travel); integrating Indigenous and traditional ecological knowledge into food systems education; demystifying the path to graduate school through mentoring and targeted support; and fostering cross-campus collaboration and course articulations.
HIʻA will also foster partnerships with community-based organizations actively involved in food-system education, including: MAʻO Organic Farms, Hoʻokuaʻāina, Kōkua Learning Farm, Hawaii Banana Source, Kualoa Grown, Kakoʻo ʻŌiwi, Waipā, and Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Coop.
“We’re creating a community supported view, vision and future for Hawaiʻi‘s food systems,” said Matthew Kekoa Lau, project lead and an assistant professor at UH West Oʻahu.
Building educational pathways ʻauwaii
Aligned with the mission of UH as a Native Hawaiian place of learning, the HIʻA Project will enable the formation of a multi-institutional coalition dedicated to the development of an educational ʻauwai—a collaborative pathway that nurtures and supports students throughout their academic and leadership journeys.
The coalition includes key faculty members from across the UH system:
- UH West Oʻahu-Lau and Co-PI Albie Miles
- Leeward CC-Co-PI Daniela Elliott
- UH Mānoa CTAHR-Co-PI Noa Kekuewa Lincoln
- Hawaiʻi CC-Co-PI Lew Nakamura
By building an educational ʻauwai, the program will ensure that the pathways to higher education, leadership and sustainable food system innovation are open and accessible to Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander and Alaskan Native students. This effort is supported by the recently launched Ke Ō Mau Center for Sustainable Island Food Systems, a research, education, planning and policy hub focused on improving the local food system in Hawaiʻi.
