>Kaʻala Farm — Cultural Learning Center & Agricultural Kīpuka, Waiʻanae, Oʻahu
Who They Are
For over 40 years, Kaʻala Farm has been an anchor of cultural resurgence in Waiʻanae. Born amid the Hawaiian Renaissance, it serves as a cultural learning center reconnecting youth, ʻohana, and community to ancestral land practices and mālama ʻāina. With loʻi kalo, native agroecology, and hands-on programs, Kaʻala is a living classroom devoted to food sovereignty, cultural heritage, healing, and community resilience.
What They Do
- Loʻi Kalo Restoration & Food Sovereignty: Kaʻala works to revive abandoned taro terraces, returning them to their role as parts of the Waiʻanae breadbasket.
- Cultural Education & Youth Engagement: Through immersive programming, Kaʻala helps youth and community members learn traditional practices, mālama protocols, and Hawaiian values.
- Healing & Community Place: The farm is also a puʻuhonua—a refuge—to nurture mental, physical, and spiritual well-being. During times of crisis, its importance has deepened.
- Advocacy & Preservation: Faced with existential challenges, Kaʻala is currently seeking support to remain open and continue its mission. Donations and awareness are vital during this time.
Why We Feature Kaʻala Farm
Kaʻala Farm stands at the crossroads of Culture, Land, and Community. It exemplifies the kind of place we built Support Local Hawaii to uplift: rooted in ancestry, responsive to crisis, and committed to perpetuating Native Hawaiian ways of being. In its existence, Kaʻala affirms that ʻāina and people are inseparable, and that healing begins with connection to place.
He aliʻi ka ʻāina, he kauwā ke kanaka.
The land is chief, the people are its servants.
Let us stand with Kaʻala. Let us help it thrive, so its lessons may live on for generations to come.
Location
Added By Support Local Hawaii
