Farm Apprentice Mentoring Program

Ready to be a farmer?

The FAM program seeks to train and empower the next generation of family farmers on Maui by providing hands-on training in the fundamentals of permaculture principles, married with Hawaiian cultural farming, and Korean Natural Farming (KNF) techniques. The Phase 1 curriculum includes: Farm planning, including reading your lands features, knowing its water resources, irrigation needs, soil composition and fertility management, propagation techniques like seed saving, weed and pest management practices without herbicides and only certified organic pesticides, and finally, the business of farming which carries over and is intensified in FAM Phase 2.

The program, which is free of cost to the participants, is sponsored by the Maui County Office of Economic Development, Kamehameha Schools-Aina Engagement Program, Lahaina Sunrise Rotary Club, The Savitt Family Foundation and The Atherton Family Foundation, among others.

The classroom trainings and Certificate of Professional Development are offered through UH Maui College, Sustainable Living Institute of Maui (SLIM). An online/hybrid option is available for distance participants in Hana and the Westside.

Photo: FAM 2018 graduates with Mayor Arakawa, Council member King, FAM Director, Phyllis Robinson, and  UH-Maui College Office of Continuing Education and Training (OCET) Director, Karen Hanada

To apply to join the next cohort of the Farm Apprentice Mentorship Program, interested individuals are invited to the upcoming informational event, “Are You Ready to Be a Farmer?” The event will be held October 4th, 2018 from 5:30 to 8:30 pm at UH-Maui College Class Act Restaurant, upstairs in Pa’ina Bldg. RSVP is required by September 25th to pfierrorob@aol.com. This event is recommended for anyone interested in learning more about what it takes to go through this FREE 6-month farmer mentoring program. For the benefit of those in Hana, there will be a presentation October 3rd at the regularly scheduled HFUU Hana Chapter meeting that begins at 6 pm.

For more information, please contact:

Phyllis Robinson,
FAM Program Director
Email: pfierrorob@aol.com

Nicolette van der Lee,Program Coordinator
Office of Continuing Education & Training, Sustainable Living Institute of Maui
University of Hawaii Maui College
Email: nhv@hawaii.edu  Ph: 808-984-3300