Agricultural Business Plan Contest To Award Rent-free Farmland

Prospective farmers with a gift for writing and a new idea for cultivating leased land are invited to enter Kamehameha Schools’ (KS) agricultural business plan contest, Mahi’ai Match-up.

KS and the Ke Ali’i Pauahi Foundation invite farmers, entrepreneurs and “anyone with a fresh, innovative idea” to submit their initial business plan proposal by July 1.

Winners will be awarded start-up money and an agricultural lease – up to five years rent-free – on some of the estate’s agricultural property. Oahu parcels include 6.327 acres of former sugar cane land at Pa’ala’a on the North Shore near Haleiwa Elementary School and Kaiaka Bay; and .8 acres at Waiawa, formerly in watercress, between Leeward Community College and the Pearl Harbor National Wildlife Refuge.

“Mahi’ai Match-up is an exciting way (for us) to partner with other generous supporters of the sustainable agricultural movement in Hawaii, such as the Ulupono Initiative,” explained foundation executive director Keawe Liu, “to move our community closer to food security.”

To apply and learn more details, visit pauahi.org/mahiaimatchup.