Agriculture

Earth Day, Kūpaʻa Ka Mauli

Thursday, April 23rd, 2026

By Léo Azambuja

Hundreds of residents celebrated Molokai Earth Day 2026 at Mitchell Pauole Center last week. The event showcased dozens of conservation agencies, groups and organizations, while offering live entertainment and local food.

“This year’s theme is Kūpaʻa Ka Mauli, which could be translated as Stand Firm,” said Russell Kallstrom, program manager at The Nature Conservancy on Molokai. “Oftentimes, we know what we need to do, but we need to have the courage to do it and to stand for it.”

Between attending public, volunteers and exhibitor staff, organizers estimated about 800 people went through the free event April 18.…

The Small Scale Farm

Wednesday, October 18th, 2023

Community Contributed 

By Kyle Franks, CTAHR, DHHL Jr Extension Agent

There is momentum building toward small farms as more and more people see the need for locally produced foods and products. With the events of the past three years, supply line weaknesses have been highlighted and these weaknesses, coupled with being an island community, have helped show how we as individuals and as a community are all affected by even the smallest ripples within a centralized supply chain. 

Here in Hawaii, we have the blessing of a year-round growing season, and yet currently Hawaii’s population is hugely dependent on centralized supply chains for 85-90 percent of the population’s food-needs.…

Kamakani Farms: Salt, Chickens, Tomatoes—and Wind

Wednesday, August 2nd, 2023

by Paul Hanley | Community Reporter 

“I didn’t want to do conventional farming,” says Cameron Hiro, who operates Kamakani Farms in Hoolehua with his wife Jacqueline and their ohana. A fourth-generation homesteader, Hiro resides on agriculture lands where his mother Janice and her late husband, Cameron’s stepfather Joseph Pele, and other family members once grew vegetables.

Though Cameron didn’t want to farm he stayed in the food industry. After high school, he studied restaurant, culinary and catering management, which led to a 35-year career in cooking, catering, and event management. In 2017, he and his brothers Raymond Hiro and John Pele became owners of Hiro’s Ohana Grill at Hotel Molokai.…