Designing and growing an agroforest—Oahu

Agroforestry systems have been cultivated throughout the Pacific Islands for extremely long periods of time. There is growing interest in modern agroforestry systems as a response to climate change and for other benefits such as food security, farm diversification, increased income, risk management, and soil and water conservation. Workshop participants will learn the latest strategies for reaching their goals in agroforestry. Hands-on activities during the workshop will give participants experience in the planning process from open land to managing an agroforest at any scale.

Participants will:

• Gain experience planning an agroforest from scratch
• Learn how to customize an agroforest to the site and production/conservation goals
• Discover and apply fundamental design principles
• Develop a project budget and management plan
• Learn about resources and tools for successful outcomes
• Gain field experience
• Receive an agroforestry planning workbook

The workshop is part of a November-December 2019 workshop series presented in Guam, Saipan, Pohnpei, Marshall Islands, and Hawaii by a team of experienced Hawaii-based agroforestry professionals. Presenters at the Oahu workshop include Craig Elevitch, Neil Logan, Sophia Bowart, and Ted Radovich, who will share their unique set of skills and knowledge in traditional agroforestry, ethnobotany, systems engineering, organic agriculture, and economic analysis acquired over decades of study and field experience.

Workshop agenda (subject to revision)

Day 1: Wednesday, Dec. 11

7:30–8:30 am Registration

8:30–8:45 Opening (Malama Honua)

8:45–9:15 The traditional agroforestry systems of Hawai‘i

9:15–9:45 Agroforestry design process Part 1: Project assessment—Elevitch and Logan

9:45–10:15 Participant exercise

10:15–10:30 Morning break

10:30–11:00 Agroforestry design process Part 2: Planting configuration—Elevitch and Logan

11:00–11:30 Participant exercise

11:30–12:00 Organic techniques for agroforestry—Ted Radovich

12:00-12:45 pm Lunch (catered by ‘Ai Love Nalo)

12:45–1:00 Relationship basis of agroforestry—M. Kalani Souza (via live video)

1:00–2:00 Agroforestry design process Part 3: Species selection, scheduling, labor and yield projections, economic analysis—Elevitch, Logan, and Bowart

2:00–2:45 Participant exercise

2:45–3:00 Afternoon break

3:00–3:30 Agroforestry design tool demonstration

3:30–3:45 Group discussion, Q&A

3:45–4:00 pm Closing

Day 2: Thursday, Dec. 12

8:00–8:30 Meet at Waimanalo Research Station

9:00–11:00 Outplanting of small agroforest

11:00–11:45 Group discussion—A way forward for agroforestry

11:45–12:00 Closing

Registration

Advanced registration is required. Please register early, as space is limited at this venue. The workshop cost is $75 per person plus Eventbrite registration processing fees. Registration includes a vegetarian lunch on the first day of the workshop.

Workshop location

The workshop will take place at UH Waimanalo Experiment Station at 41-698 Ahiki St, Waimanalo, HI 96795—see Google map here https://goo.gl/maps/2sWz9rE3Sf42. Turn mauka from Hihimanu St. onto Ahiki St. The entrance to the Waimanalo Experiment Station is the second left off of Ahiki St. After entering the Station, drive approximately ¼ mile and turn right at plumeria (follow the signs to the workshop). Parking will be marked.

Registration opens at 7:30 am and the workshop will begin at 8:30 am sharp.

Some items to bring

• Both days of the workshop will take place at the Waimanalo Research Station. Participants should be prepared to work outside for hands-on experience. Please bring a hat, rain jacket, sturdy shoes, long pants, mosquito repellent, water, and anything else you might need.
• To cut down on waste, we ask that participants bring water bottles for their water needs which you can refill at the workshop as needed.

We look forward to a very full and rewarding workshop. For additional information, email workshops@agroforestry.org

Sponsors and co-organizers

This workshop is supported in part by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2015-38640-23779 through the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under subaward number EW16-008. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider.

The workshop is presented by Permanent Agriculture Resources and the Sustainable and Organic Agriculture Program at UH CTAHR with support from Agroforestry Net, FARM Center, Hawaii Homegrown Food Network, Olohana Foundation, and the Global Biodiversity Heritage Council.

Presenters

Craig Elevitch, PhD has been an educator in agroforestry since 1993. For over 25 years, Craig has been living, teaching and writing about agroforestry. His internationally recognized publications and workshops have guided thousands in becoming more proficient in regenerative food production, agroforestry, and reforestation. In addition to working directly with dozens of farmers, he has facilitated over 150 agroforestry workshops in the Pacific, with over 7,000 producers and resource professionals participating since 1993. His agroforestry publications have garnered millions of downloads since 2000. These include Agroforestry Guides for Pacific Islands (2000), Traditional Trees of Pacific Islands (2006), Specialty Crops for Pacific Islands (2011), Agroforestry Landscapes for Pacific Islands (2015), and Agroforestry Design for Regenerative Production (2020), all of which promote diverse agricultural systems that are environmentally and ecologically regenerative.

Neil Logan is an agricultural innovator, drawing inspiration from agro-successional restoration, ethnobotany, mycology, permaculture, and numerous other fields. For the past 18 years, Neil has developed practical strategies, inspired by the work of Ernst Götsch, whom he first studied with in 2001. Together with his wife Sophia Bowart, he has been refining practical strategies for diverse agricultural production systems that can recover the costs of establishment within a few years. Neil has worked on projects in many different ecosystems around the globe, including in Hawaii, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, New Zealand, and Canada. He is currently co-managing Mohala Lehua Farm and FARM Center and authoring several publications about agroforestry and Kiawe (Prosopis limensis) in Hawaii. Neil is a dynamic orator, teaching agroforestry, mycology, permaculture, horticulture, and herbalism. His capacity to impart the big picture context as well as practical perspectives to diverse audiences is one of his greatest strengths.

Sophia Bowart had a dream of transforming an open pasture into a food-producing regenerative ecosystem. She leveraged her background in non-profit development and sustainable business management to pioneer Mohala Lehua Farm in Hawi, Hawaii in 2006. Today, Mohala Lehua is still a rare example of regeneration of degraded pasture lands in Hawaii. Together with her husband Neil Logan, she has authored and presented on sustainable sandalwood agroforestry systems demonstrated at their farm. Sophia has worked to promote the Buy Local/Eat Local Campaign and the Hawaii Alliance for a Local Living Economy (HALE). Her passions for the economics of sustainable agriculture have inspired her to co-found FARM Center, which is dedicated to the recovery and vitalization of our planet's varied forest ecosystems, by protecting healthy watersheds and cultivating biological and cultural diversity. She has a knack for processing raw products from the farm into delicious and nutritious fare.

Born and raised on O’ahu, Dr. Ted Radovich is an alum of Future Farmers of America and the Peace Corps where he served as an agroforestry volunteer in West Africa. An extension specialist in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources with research and teaching appointments, he leads the sustainable and organic farming systems laboratory, teaches several courses and oversees 4 acres of certified organic land. His current state-wide program is focused on understanding how crop yield and quality can be optimized in agricultural systems that reduce reliance on conventional chemical inputs and increase use of ecological farming practices.