Our mission is to empower our community through education and support for sustainable food production, cultivating a resilient, self-sufficient regional food system rooted in Hawaiian values, knowledge, and agricultural practices.

Owner and stewards of a 38-acre parcel of agricultural land above Kona Community Hospital in the ahupuaʻa of Kanāueue, KUA is an 15-year-old organization that is deeply committed to preserving rich South Kona ecosystems while ameliorating the impacts of climate change through regenerative agriculture. From KUA’s perspective, the primary response to the increasingly unpredictable environmentally reality on a tropical island is locally-owned organic food self-sufficiency. In reducing dependence on fossil-fuel based imports and in adapting agricultural practices to local climactic conditions, farmers, residents, and chefs can grow and make products that support personal livelihoods and broader community economic resilience and self-determination.

KUA’s West Hawaii Community Kitchen project emerged as a critical community need in 2014, and in 2015 we were successful in obtaining the first of two Grants-in-Aid (GIA) from the Hawaii legislature to support the majority of costs associated with its construction. The 2800-square-foot facility, now 80% complete, features two side-by-side kitchens, two walk-in refrigerator/freezer units, classroom and meeting space, and three offices. KUA conducted a market research study of local farmers and food entrepreneurs in 2015 that detailed the types of products people wanted to produce in the kitchen, which informed decisions about what equipment the kitchen should feature.

KUA’s next goal is to focus on developing regenerative agriculture projects on our land that are grounded in Hawaiian culture, protective of our local ecosystems, and closely integrated with the community kitchen facility. 

It is well established that regenerative agriculture and local food systems can play a key role in combating climate change. Replacing the dominant agriculture system that produces copious greenhouse gas emissions with practices that result in climate change mitigation, as well as food security, climate resilience, biodiversity and soil health, is particularly critical in Hawaii, where regenerative agriculture can increase biodiversity, enrich the soil, improve watersheds and protect reefs, provide for pollinators, is resilient to climate instability and results in improved health and vitality for our island community. 

Kumu Keala Ching serves as our board secretary and Alaka‘i (leader and guide) for all Hawaiian culture-based projects on KUA o Kanāueue’s 38-acre educational campus. He is a Native Hawaiian cultural educator, composer, song writer, and spiritual advisor to many Hawaiian organizations. Kumu Keala lives and breathes aloha into his Hawaiian heritage with his strong presence and great heart.

Growing up on the island of O’ahu, Keala Ching began his hula training as a dancer with the Men of Waimapuna under the direction of the late Darrel Ihi’ihilauakea Lupenui. In 1999 he became a practitioner of Ho‘oponopono with Kupuna Malia Craver, a cultural specialist at the Queen Lili‘uokalani Children’s center. He is a graduate of University of Hawai‘i, Manoa with a degree in early childhood education.

Under the tutelage of Loea Frank Kawaikapuokalani Hewett, Keala has spent many years learning and building his knowledge.  Recently he graduated in the ‘uniki rites to be a kumu hula.  He is fluent in the Hawaiian language, which he uses as the foundation for teaching all of his students.

He currently lives in Kailua-Kona, where he is Kumu Hula for Ka Pa Hula Na Wai Iwi Ola. As a composer of chants and mele, he travels the world to share hula. Kumu Keala is Co-founder and Executive Director of Na Wai Iwi Ola (NWIO) Foundation.  He is also Kumu Hula and cultural advisor to Halau Na Wai Ola in Sunnyvale, California, – Kumu Hula Ka‘ai Isa-Kahaku; Halau Na Wai Pana o Keala – Kumu Yukari Uchio; Halau Na Wai Ola o Keala – Kumu Kazumi Chiwacchi both in Japan; and Halau Na Wai ‘Ohi‘a – Kumu Noelle Delaquis in Zurich, Switzerland.

Rafael Ramirez, who serves as our board president, managed the West Hawaii Legal Aid Society office for 22 years, providing legal assistance, education and representation for the low-income communities of West Hawai‘i. He developed self-help divorce and bankruptcy clinics to empower these target communities and created an interdisciplinary support network for the elderly and disabled. He was one of the founders of Keōua Hōnaunau Canoe Club and has served as its president, guiding the club’s paddling, cultural and environmental stewardship programs. With a background in cultural anthropology, he has worked extensively on Native Hawaiian land issues and has been an organic coffee farmer, land manager and advocate for sustainable agriculture in Kona for more than 40 years.

Martha Stephens is our board treasurer. She is an artist and designer who has been living in Kealia, South Kona for 15 years. She has been involved in business and community service for more than half her life, and has served on numerous nonprofit boards,  Martha was a delegate to the last White House Conference on Small Business in 1995, and has coached and led many people in projects that make a difference for their communities.

Nature, food and the art of living are her passions and she believes in local sustainable farming and food production for the future of our keiki and community here on the Big Island.