Using Satellite EO to Strengthen Food Security with Indigenous Hawaiians

Feb 23

Project Summary

Tri-island Maui County, which includes the islands of Maui, Lāna‘i, and Moloka‘i, is particularly vulnerable to food shortages due to high reliance on agricultural imports and supply ships. Food insecurity in Maui County is influenced by many factors, including the historical marginalization in state and national policies and investments of small-scale, indigenous farmers that produce food for local consumption, stifling their production of native crops and consequently their livelihoods. In addition, food costs in Hawaii are among the nation’s highest. The Maui county community has a stated need for increased local food production, decreased reliance on imports/supply ships, workforce development, and economic diversification. Policymakers and other decision-makers (e.g., Maui United Way) need data about food security and food production across the island to determine what effective policies or programs can be developed to address these challenges, as well as measure their progress. We can use EO data to provide a continuous view of crop conditions and other agricultural information across Maui county.

Decision-makers can use the resulting data products to design policies and programs that improve the livelihoods of Maui county farmers and residents. The resulting data systems could become a key component of agriculture monitoring and support programs through their use/continuation by the Maui County Department of Agriculture and County Council. Spatial datasets that indicate where and which crops are being grown annually on the islands would enable policymakers, government agencies, and other key stakeholders to design policies and plans to increase food production in a manner that is sustainable, regenerative, and supportive of small-scale, indigenous farmers. The project’s resulting datasets and Food Security Dashboard integration are critical for monitoring and tracking crop conditions and production, can support the identification and adoption of novel approaches, and can increase support of traditional practices like taro farming while reducing the impact on other ecosystems and biodiversity.

In this project, Dr. Kerner is collaborating with local institutions including Maui United Way, University of Hawaii Maui College, and Responsible Markets to develop data products using satellite Earth observations and machine learning to enable visualizations of crop conditions, food availability, and other agricultural information. They are consulting with local farmers, community organizations, and policymakers to co-develop solutions that will support farmer livelihoods, increase food access and availability, and help meet the county’s and state’s economic diversification and sustainability goals. As a part of her project, Dr. Kerner has introduced an initiative called, ‘Āina Data Stewards, a student-lead field data collection pilot program to collect the field data needed to train and validate the cropland and crop type maps.

Study Area:

Maui County, HI

Earth Observations Used

Sentinel-1 | Sentinel-2 | SRTM DEM

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Other Resources

Maui County Food Security Data Visualization Project Dashboard: https://nasaacres.github.io/
Maui Wildfire Response Dashboard:
https://nasaacres.github.io/maui-wildfires

Lead Institution