HŌʻĀ MAHI
HŌʻĀ MAHI is a 70-acre leased property dedicated to enhancing the Hāmākua community through diversified sustainable agriculture and native forest restoration. Guided by traditional Hawaiian values and modern, environmentally sound agricultural practices, the program transforms former sugarcane and pasture lands into a vibrant living and learning space.
Home to the Huli Ka Lima Ilalo Program, HŌʻĀ MAHI emphasizes traditional and tropical crops to ensure local food production, promote ecological health, preserve water retention, reduce erosion, and restore soil fertility.
About the Design
Guided by traditional Hawaiian values and practices, and supported by modern, scientifically-sound, environmentally-safe agricultural technology, the program focuses on enhancing natural ecology by preserving water retention, reducing erosion, and promoting soil restoration. The design relies on essential traditional and tropical crops to ensure local food production and access.
Document prepared for HŌ‘Ā by After Oceanic, Inc.
Conceptual plan and pre-design by Lanakila Mangauil.
Drawings are not intended for permit or construction.
Date: July 2023. Not to scale.
HULI KA
LIMA I LALO
HŌʻĀ launched the Huli Ka Lima I Lalo program to engage community members through hands-on activities, sustainable agriculture, and cultural education focused on mauliola (health and well-being). The initiative fosters community connection and cultural exchange, providing a dynamic environment for experiential learning.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the program significantly impacted the GIVE organization by welcoming hundreds of volunteers—primarily redirected from international destinations due to travel restrictions—to Hawaiʻi. Witnessing the pandemic’s disruption of local food systems and resulting food insecurity among Hāmākua families, Lanakila sought solutions addressing immediate needs while building resilient long-term community food sources.
HŌʻĀ began transforming former pasture lands into a large-scale community resource that now hosts diverse groups, including students, visiting families, and local ʻohana, nurturing cultural understanding and stronger community relationships.
Kamaʻilio ʻĀina. Sustainability can only be achieved with a shift in consciousness, actions and relationship that our community has with food.
Creating educational opportunities for the whole community, from projects promoting home gardens, to cooking lessons with local produce, to hands-on learning about food production, Huli Ka Lima I Laloʻs education component promotes access and utilization to local foods for the community. Cultural classes promoting building a relationship with place, and demonstrating the connection between place and land stewardship. These classes include Hawaiian language, hula, and stewardship of Kumokuhaliʻi Native gardens.
Community Workdays + Volunteerism
Providing an opportunity for community, to turn their hands downward - learning cultivation and planting methods, ongoing care and maintenance and harvesting of plants - to come together to build community around food sovereignty, sustainability, and to support the long-term vision of community food security