DHHL MEDIA RELEASE: DHHL Awards Agricultural Lots on Hawai’i Island

 

STATE OF HAWAIʻI

KA MOKU ʻĀINA O HAWAIʻI

 

DEPARTMENT OF HAWAIIAN HOME LANDS

Ka ʻOihana ʻĀina Hoʻopulapula Hawaiʻi

JOSH GREEN, M.D.
GOVERNOR

KE KIAʻĀINA

 

KALI WATSON

DIRECTOR

KA LUNA HOʻOKELE

 

KATIE L. LAMBERT

DEPUTY DIRECTOR

KA HOPE LUNA HOʻOKELE

DHHL AWARDS AGRICULTURAL LOTS ON HAWAIʻI ISLAND

Event Marks the Department’s Largest Agricultural Offering in Nearly 40 Years

 

Left to right: Representative Darius Kila, Senator Kurt Fevella, Oʻahu Commissioner Sanoe Marfil, DHHL beneficiary Gabriel Kealoha, DHHL Director Kali Watson, East Hawaiʻi Commissioner Michael Kaleikini

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 23, 2024

HILO, HAWAIʻI – The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) awarded 68 agricultural lots on Hawaiʻi Island Saturday marking the largest agricultural lot offering by the department since the late-1980s.

Located in Hilo, the Honomū and Makuʻu homestead lots range in size from one to five acres. In Honomū, 16 one-acre subsistence agricultural lots were offered. In Makuʻu, 20 five-acre agricultural lots and 32 two-acre subsistence agricultural lots were offered.

Nearly 200 beneficiaries and their ‘ohana celebrated the occasion at Keaukaha Elementary School.

“ʻOhana are built on the ʻāina and it is the department’s commitment to keeping our families in Hawaiʻi and on the land,” said DHHL Director Kali Watson. “It is DHHL’s goal to offer diverse homesteading options and these agricultural lots serve as solutions to addressing the waitlist.”

Subsistence-ag lots are less than three acres in size and near existing infrastructure. This homestead model allows beneficiaries to live and grow food on their lots for home consumption or small-scale economic agricultural activity.

Beneficiaries who opt to grow produce and other crops commercially must create a farm plan, like a business plan, as part of their lease, and lessees must cultivate at least two-thirds of the land.

With both lot types, beneficiaries have the option of constructing a single-family home or supplemental dwelling unit.

“This momentous occasion marks an exciting milestone for DHHL beneficiaries, providing not only the opportunity to build homes but also to cultivate a future grounded in food sovereignty and self-sustainability,” Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke said in a statement.

An additional 40 subsistence agricultural lots are slated for development in Honomū within the next two years. More than 1,600 lots are planned for various homesteads across Hawaiʻi Island including Laʻi ʻŌpua, Kaumana, Honokaʻa, Pālamanui and Panaʻewa.

Click here to download visuals, soundbites.

B-ROLL (6:25)

SOUNDBITES

 

Kali Watson, director, Department of Hawaiian Home Lands

 

(:44 seconds)

“Well I think this particular project is a real reflection of our diversity and the options we’re creating for the homesteaders, these subsistence and farm lots, we’re doing 68 today, and it’s exciting because it provides an opportunity to not only have a place to grow your food as well as raise livestock but also build a house, which is an option, so that’s real exciting there’s no prequalification requirements it’s just a choice, and it’s been a long time, as mentioned it’s been over 35 years since we did this the last time and so we plan to do more of these.”

Gabriel Kealoha, DHHL beneficiary

(:42 seconds)

“This is very important because as somebody who was a beneficiary from my parents as well, both my parents passed away and I’m a beneficiary on my mom’s one, so this is very important for me to give to my baby because both my parents, my grandparents and now I get this awarded land for my baby to have this opportunity in the future, and it’s very exciting, I did not expect it.”

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About the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands:

The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands carries out Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole’s vision of rehabilitating native Hawaiians by returning them to the land. Established by U.S. Congress in 1921 with the passage of the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act, the Hawaiian homesteading program run by DHHL includes management of more than 200,000 acres of land statewide with the specific purpose of developing and delivering homesteading.

Media Contact:

Diamond Badajos

Information and Community Relations Officer

Department of Hawaiian Home Lands

Cell: 808-342-0873

Email: [email protected]