Agri-Culture

Written by Eli Matola

If you are someone whose entire work experience has either been in a kitchen or a office, you begin to really overlook all the work that surrounds producing food. Below, a student who has made producing fruits and vegetables his area of study, Makana Ako, University of Hawaii at Hilo (UHH) junior and Agroecology major, discusses his experiences with his field and school.

Ako started studying agriculture after completing a high school internship in which he mentored at a farm. He explains that while there, he realized he wanted to work with hands for a living. Since then, the junior has moved from Oahu to the Big Island.

Agroecology uses ecological theory to study, design, manage and evaluate productive and resourceful agricultural systems. Research within the field considers the interactions of biophysical, technical and socioeconomic components of farming systems. Such systems are regarded as fundamental objects of study; those in the field wholly and interdisciplinarily analyze mineral cycles, energy transformations, biological processes, and socioeconomic relationships.

In layman’s terms, all this means that Agroecology uses nature in prosperous ways, benefitting us and the environment. To Ako, Agroecology “is the study of plants, … the study of sustainability.” He goes on, “If we all depend on plants to eat then we depend on them to live. If we can learn to create a better mutually beneficial way of farming, then it is help to us all.”

When asked what he has learned during his time at the university, the junior answers he really learned about the science behind it all—the ins and outs of how to prepare the land, plant the seed, grow it and harvest it. These ins and outs involve a lot of science, according to Ako, who uses biology, chemistry, horticulture, pathology, and even economics.

The Agroecology student says the best thing he has received from his whole experience of majoring in agriculture is simply learning how plants grow. “If you know that then you will never be hungry,” he stated. “In a world where less and less people know how to grow their own food, I have learned this extremely valuable skill.”

Another aspect Ako has grown to appreciate about his major is its relativity to the Hawaiian culture. As he comes from a Hawaiian background, much of what he learns from his classes he connects to his own culture. For instance, he uses the same agricultural practices when working in the lo'i' which the ancient Hawaiians did hundreds of years ago, although within a modern context.

After graduating, the junior wants to work at a National Park. To those thinking about joining the major, he advises: follow what you love and do it; just make sure it is what you love. Those who join Agroecology cannot be concerned with not getting dirty, he remarks. Yet, the major is not just physical work, there being a lot of brain work as well. In fact, Ako mentions, the major demands just as much physically as it does mentally.