Growing a More Resilient Hawaiʻi with UH Mānoa CTAHR

University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa - College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience (CTAHR)

With support from the Mamoru and Aiko Takitani Foundation, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience is helping promising ideas take root. The Foundation’s support helped launch a competitive seed grant program that gives faculty the opportunity to explore new ways to strengthen food production, advance agricultural technology, and support the health of Hawaiʻi’s communities.

The projects reflect both innovation and a deep connection to place—from testing vertical farming systems that can grow more fresh food in less space, to studying plants such as noni and māmaki and the compounds that have long made them meaningful to health and healing.

By investing in early ideas with the potential to grow, the Takitani Foundation is proud to support research that looks toward Hawaiʻi’s future while remaining grounded in the needs of its people, communities, and ecosystems.