AGROFORESTRY RESOURCES, GENDER AND LOCAL KNOWLEDGE IN HAWAIʻI

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2024-12

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Federal, state and local governments are increasingly investing resources into expanding agroforestry practices and systems for climate resiliency. Yet, Hawaiʻi producers face systemic barriers to equitably accessing institutional resources to practice agroforestry. Women farmers in Hawaiʻi, particularly those practicing non-conventional agriculture, must navigate unique tensions related to gendered power and social relations which affect their interactions with the environment and access to resources. In this thesis, I used a Feminist Political Ecology (FPE) approach and semi-structured interviews to understand the perceptions and experiences of diverse women practicing agroforestry in Hawaiʻi accessing supportive resources. I explored the following research questions: 1) how do women growers in Hawaiʻi define agroforestry; 2) how are women accessing support and resources for agroforestry; 3) what factors inhibit women’s access to resources and support for agroforestry? Through grounded theory analysis, themes emerged around differences in agroforestry definitions between the USDA and women interviewed, affecting how growers navigated institutional and community resources. Caregiving, as a gendered responsibility, constrained many women’s ability to develop agroforestry systems, intersecting with environmental caregiving for some Kanaka ʻŌiwi women. Based on these findings, I discuss policy recommendations to equitably expand agroforestry in Hawaiʻi, including federal legislation and State and County initiatives to uplift local agroforestry knowledge and recognize the impact of gendered responsibilities on growers. These findings support enhanced resource access for women-identifying farmers as well as provide insight into trends of larger social and political marginalization in Hawaiʻi.

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Social research, Agriculture, Gender studies, agriculture policy, biocultural restoration, Feminist Political Ecology, gender equity

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84 pages

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