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The University of Hawaii's College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience will receive a $40 million federal grant to support research and development aimed at helping small coffee and cacao farms increase production, according to U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz.
The five-year grant, awarded through the U.S. State Department's Feed the Future Innovation Lab program, will support the development of technologies to help Hawaii farmers address challenges such as drought and invasive pests. The program also will partner with small farms in six developing countries to strengthen supply chains for U.S. markets.
"This is great news for our small local coffee and cacao farms and showcases Hawai'i's global leadership in agricultural research," said Schatz, who serves as the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations and helped secure funding to restart the grant program.