Last Updated: 1/23/2025
The Food Basket is excited to announce our new funding opportunity for Hawaiʻi Island food producers called Malama Da Farmer Grants! These grants aim to support economic recovery of small food producers whose businesses were financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Funding Source
Funds for this grant opportunity originate from the U.S. Department of the Treasury State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) Program. The County of Hawaiʻi is the recipient of SLFRF, and The Food Basket Inc. is the subrecipient.
Purpose of Funding
The SLFRF Program was authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act. The County of Hawaiʻi awarded SLFRF funds to The Food Basket, through a competitive process, to administer a Local Food Producer Expansion Program (LFPEP). The primary goal of LFPEP is to drive a significant increase in local food production by providing essential support to eligible small businesses and nonprofits interested in expanding their operations.
Deadline to apply: March 31, 2025 by 11:59 PM HST
Total Program Funding: $710,000
Range of Grant Awards: $5,000-$25,000
The Request for Application (RFA) is your friendly guide to help you through the application!
Eligibility Requirements
Applicants must register and attend at least one of the five webinars in the “Malama Da Farmer: Planning to Scale Webinar Series” hosted by GoFarm Hawaiʻi. Please register at gofarmhawaii.org.
Applicants must be a small business or nonprofit involved in agricultural food production since at least March 1, 2020. The agricultural operation must correspond to one or more six-digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes beginning with either 111 (Crop Production) or 112 (Animal Production and Agriculture). Please view the eligibility requirements in the RFA.