The Maui News

A total of 67 grants have been awarded in Maui County to help support small-scale agriculture in areas with limited access to food.

The grants were among 579 totaling nearly $2.7 million statewide for efforts that include home gardening, herding and livestock operations in areas that are food insecure, according to the state Department of Agriculture. Grant amounts ranged from $750 to $5,000.

More than 7,400 applications were received this fall under the Micro-Grants for Food Security Program. The applications and project proposals were evaluated and ranked by the department’s Market Development Branch and final approval was received last week from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Funding for the grant program is provided by the USDA under the 2018 Farm Bill.

Of the total grants, 347 were on Oahu, 133 on Hawaii island and 32 in Kauai County.

“There was an unprecedented interest in the micro-grants program this year,” said Phyllis Shimabukuro-Geiser, chairperson of the Hawaii Board of Agriculture. “Those who were awarded the grants submitted proposals that were well thought out and most likely to achieve the grant purpose of increasing the quality and quantity of locally grown foods in areas where access to food is limited.”

Examples of proposals that were funded included projects for fencing to protect crops and seedlings from axis deer damage; purchasing of seeds and tree crops; purchasing of soil amendments, compost, tools and irrigation systems; refrigeration/freezing capacity and canning supplies for food preservation; purchasing of garden towers and raised beds for vegetable production; building shade houses, aquaponic, hydroponic and aeroponic systems; and construction poultry coops.

Grant awardees have been notified via email. To view all the grant awards, visit hands .ehawaii.gov/hands/awards and search “micro-grants.”

For questions on the status of the awards, email hdoa.md.microgrants@hawaii.gov.