Young Farmer Mentorship Pilot Program
Program Overview
The young farmer mentorship pilot program will focus primarily on breadfruit (ʻulu) agroforestry producers, pairing experienced growers with beginning producers ages 18–25 for a structured, six month, hands-on learning experience. Running from December 2025 – May 2026, three mentees will be matched with three mentors to shadow them across all aspects of their operation, gaining real world experience in Hawaiʻi’s regenerative agriculture sector.
Mentees will work 30hrs per month (about 7 hours per week) for a total stipend of $3,600.
Mentors receive a $2,700 stipend ($450 per month) in addition to the on-farm help from their Mentees. All payments will be made at the beginning of each working month.
In addition to the one-on-one mentorship, all participants will take part in three online educational modules covering topics such as farm succession planning, financing, and other areas relevant to the program. All group workshops will be open to the public, sponsored by GoFarm Hawaiʻi.
Reflecting on an Incredible Start: Our 2026 First Year Highlights!
The first year of the Young Farmer Mentorship Program has been an exciting success, far exceeding our expectations and planting the seeds for a bright future in Hawaiʻi agriculture. We were overwhelmed by the incredible community response, receiving over 20 applications in our very first round. A clear sign of the growing hunger for hands on food system education.
From this talented pool, we successfully launched three dedicated mentor mentee pairs spanning the island from Kona to Pāhoa, creating a network of learning that touched both sides of the island. Under the guidance of highly established local farmers, our participants gained high value, real world skills, bridging the gap between traditional wisdom and modern food production.
Luana, one of our mentees, shared what she learned from the program: “One of the biggest things Mike (her mentor) taught me was patience. It all takes a lot of work. People that don’t do things like this (pruning for example), don’t realize how much work it all takes. I would get frustrated at the ‘ulu trees, but I try to remind myself that this is beneficial to the trees, beneficial to putting food on our plates, and beneficial for ALL the work I’m doing.”
Our other mentee, Tearii, shared that he “learned how to build a good friendship” through the program. The experience also helped him realize his long term goals: “I want to keep working in agriculture. It inspired me to want to keep teaching future generations how to survive off the land.'”
We couldn’t be prouder of the growth we’ve seen from this pilot, and we are excited to keep this momentum moving forward.
Britton and Tearii by one of the fences that they both conducted a fence check on. Here Tearii was able to learn how to identify weak spots in the fence, how to approach fixing it, and get hands on work done.
Luana is pruning one of the various ‘Ulu trees on Mike’s farm. This work took many hours, and Mike was always there to show her the way.
Tearii is tending to the Kalo patch, just one of his various tasks while working at Britton’s farm. Clearing weeds was one of the important jobs that showed him that the hard work never ends!
Mike always spent time showing his mentees everything about the farm. Here we were shown the importance of pruning branches before the tree gets too big.
Manu was able to learn from his mentor Ricky all about transplanting during their time together. The hands on experience has given him true insights into all the steps of successfully transplanting samplings.
Ricky provided a lot of insight into everything with preparing and maintaining greenhouses.
***2025-2026 APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED***
By connecting generations, we’re keeping Hawai‘i’s agricultural knowledge alive and empowering young people to build meaningful careers that care for the ʻāina and their community. Join us in growing the future of local farming!
About Kohala Coast Community Fund (formally known as Koi Pond Bridges)
Kohala Coast Community Fund is a hui of people who love Hawai’i Island and gather to explore economic, environmental, and social issues that affect quality of life for all who live here. Motivated by a sense of gratitude for our island community, they foster collaboration between the private and public sector in advancing opportunities via workforce development. These organizations provide young residents in-depth training, mentorship, and exposure to career paths, enabling them to pursue high-value jobs on-island.
Kohala Coast Community Fund has generously awarded The Hawaiʻi ʻUlu Cooperative & GoFarm Hawaiʻi the funding to coordinate this project to help ensure Hawaiʻi island farming knowledge can be passed down to those who need it.
