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PISPECIAI fC
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Murashige, Laura
From: marielle.hampton @gmail.com on behalf of KiTeya Belford-Smith [practicalaghamakua @gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, April 10, 2013. 12:50 PM
To: counciltestimony @co.hawaii.hi.us
Subject: R&D funding testimonial
To: Council Chairperson J Yoshimoto
Practical Agriculture for Hamakua, funded in part by the Hawaii County department of R&D, is finishing its sixth
consecutive year promoting sustainable agriculture and connecting farmers, professors, researchers, and the wider
community. This year's roster of presenters included well-known agricultural figures including Dr. Jonathon Deenik of
CTAHR, Noa Kekuewa Lincoln, and Ken Love.
This year with the same modest budget, we expanded the program to include not only 15 classes and 5 farm tours
but also 5 hands-on workshops on specific topics like pest management, seed-saving, and beekeeping. We had a
total of approximately 400 attendances.
We brought in 8 new presenters who gave their enthusiastic support and are looking forward to participating each
year, including farmers who've given out their personal cell numbers and invited participants to reach out with
questions or requests or come by for tours anytime.
News outlets are happy to promote our program: this year we had an article on one of our classes in the Big Island
Weekly and the schedule was posted in newspapers,websites, Facebook groups, and online calendars. This year we
also went digital, starting a Facebook page and a website with over 1000 views and a new online evaluation system.
Thanks to R&D funding, we're able to reach even more people with more in-depth knowledge and experience,
continually adding new talent to the program and helping the community to network more effectively.
Testimonials call our program "a wonderful resource for the community"and participants constantly express their
gratitude for what the program has offered them.This program, possible only through R&D funding,will continue to
provide the community with knowledge and connections that will lead to more successful agriculture on the island.
Mahalo!
KiTeya Belford-Smith
Marielle Hampton
Program Managers
Practical Agriculture for Hamakua
phone: (808) 937-7024
email: practicalaghamakua(c4gmail.com
website: www.practicalagricultureforhamakua.com
Practical Agriculture for Hamakua is a program of the Hilo-Hamakua Community Development
Corporation and co-sponsored by the Hawaii County Department of Research & Development.
Comm. No._� S°.
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4/10/2013