For the last 30 years, I have been involved in various aspects of Hawai‘i’s agriculture community from working the land under the tutelage of my father, to maintaining a successful agriculture business and advocating on behalf of farmers as the Hawai‘i Farm Bureau Federation president.

The recent debate between development and agriculture centered around Koa Ridge and Ho‘opili is important for many reasons, primarily for bringing agriculture issues to the forefront and raising awareness of the plight faced by many small farmers in Hawai‘i. However, along with the recent debate, there have been many people claiming to understand agriculture and what it takes to be a successful farmer.

It saddens me that many claiming to be farming advocates are merely anti‐development “NIMBYs” (not in my back yard) detracting from the important work of organizations like the Hawai‘i Farm Bureau Federation in trying to work with the State and City and County of Honolulu to help farmers. I wanted to take this opportunity to set the record straight about many of the recent claims by opponents to D.R. Horton Schuler Homes’ Ho‘opili project and to discuss Ho‘opili’s true impact to farmers in Hawai‘i.

Loss of Prime Agriculture Land

Recent testifiers opposing Ho‘opili at the state Land Use Commission have stated that there is currently no farm land available and therefore, reclassifying Ho‘opili will irreparably impact farmers’ ability to access land. I must disagree. The reality is that Ho‘opili represents a very small percentage of the 30,000 acres of prime agriculture land on O‘ahu that is located outside the city’s designated urban growth boundary, and which is not being farmed. The corresponding statewide figure is more than 175,000 acres. In fact, a large agriculture landowner is currently selling 16,000 acres of agriculture land – much of that land the same quality as Ho‘opili. Moving forward, we need to focus our efforts to protecting the remaining 30,000 acres of prime agriculture land on the North Shore, Kunia and rural communities, and recognize that these areas were long planned for agriculture preservation.

I am also very excited about the recent announcement that the State’s Agribusiness Development Corporation will be taking fee title to approximately 1,700 acres of former pineapple land near Wahiawa. Known as the Galbraith Estate, these prime agriculture lands played an important role in Hawai‘i’s pineapple growing industry for many decades and have now sat fallow for many years. I am confident that through the leadership of James Nakatani, the State’s Agribusiness Development Corporation will provide additional opportunities for small farmers throughout O‘ahu.

Proper Planning

Another argument of Ho‘opili opponents is that the plan to develop the ‘Ewa Plain into a true secondary urban center is flawed and should be revisited. I must disagree. We constantly fault our government leaders for making decisions without proper planning, but what is occurring in Kapolei and Kunia to help agriculture is the result of a thoughtful planning process. When the city devised the ‘Ewa Development Plan through an extensive community process and designated the land under Ho‘opili for urban growth, it simultaneously preserved more than 3,000 of Hawai‘i’s best farm land in Kunia for agriculture in perpetuity. These 3,000 acres represent some of the most productive farm land in the state and it has consistently produced some of the highest sugarcane yields.

This planning effort also resulted in a variety of projects that will provide untold community benefits, including the University of Hawai‘i at West O‘ahu, The Salvation Army Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center and hundreds of acres dedicated to providing housing for Native Hawaiians. These projects are on the same agriculture land as Ho‘opili and once were occupied by the same farmer as Ho‘opili – Aloun Farms. To say these projects were not the result of proper planning is simply not true. We must move forward with these plans and the projects associated with it because to stop now, will undoubtedly place other agriculture lands in jeopardy.

Ho‘opili will Provide Greater Access to Small Farmers

Many have expressed concern for Ho‘opili’s current agriculture tenants, but many do not know that collectively Sugarland Farms, Aloun Farms and Syngenta control thousands of acres of prime agriculture land across the state. They will survive irrespective of Ho‘opili moving forward because they represent some of the largest corporate farming operations in the state.

Moving forward, Ho‘opili through its Urban Agriculture Program – which seeks to establish a community built around and integrated with food production – will provide many more small farmers the opportunity to start and grow their business. Eighty‐five percent of all farms in Hawai‘i are two acres or less and therefore, Ho‘opili’s 159 acres of commercial farm lands,which is provided through the Urban Agriculture Program, will provide many of those smaller farmers a tremendous opportunity. The recent announcement that Ho Farms will become the first commercial farming tenant on approximately 18 acres is a huge step forward for the program and represents the future of farming in Ho‘opili. I will continue to work with D.R. Horton Schuler Homes to implement their Urban Agriculture Program and to ensure greater access to land for many more small farms.

Moving Forward

As a lifelong farmer, I am encouraged by the recent outpouring of support for Hawai‘i’s farming community. As we now know, buying local is more than a catch phrase, but will help to ensure the future viability of so many small farms like Nalo and Ho Farms, who struggle daily to operate a successful agriculture business in Hawai‘i.

We need to keep the dialogue moving and continue to recognize that there does not need to be this struggle between development and agriculture, that providing affordable housing for Hawai‘i’s working families does not have to be at the expense of small farmers, and that the reason we have development plans is to ensure that we can preserve agriculture lands and preserve the rural character of the North Shore and other areas.

About the author: Dean Okimoto is chairman and president of ‘Nalo Farms Inc. He is chairman of the Hawaii Agricultural Foundation and President of the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation.