NASA is teaming up with Maui farmers in Hawai’i to leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and satellite technology for agricultural revitalization. Researchers from NASA Harvest, an agency consortium dedicated to food security and environmental resiliency, are working closely with local farmers to address food insecurity and promote sustainable agriculture, aligning with the cultural tradition of aloha ʻāina—love and responsible stewardship of the land.
Hawai’i faces a significant challenge, importing 85%–90% of its food due to the historical use of productive agricultural land for sugarcane and pineapple exports. The decline of plantations since the 1980s has left vast areas fallow, contributing to supply chain vulnerabilities, high food prices, and increased food insecurity, particularly among low-income residents, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.
To aid Hawai’i’s efforts to achieve agricultural self-sufficiency, researchers like Hannah Kerner, an assistant professor at Arizona State University and the AI and Machine Learning Lead for NASA Harvest and NASA Acres, are utilizing satellite imagery to create a data dashboard. This tool, fed by on-the-ground data, allows farmers, community leaders, and policymakers to monitor and analyze crop conditions across Maui County in real-time, addressing long-standing knowledge gaps that traditional surveys have not adequately covered.
Kerner’s team uses high-resolution spatial maps specific to each crop type, collected through satellite imagery and ground truth data from the University of Hawai’i Maui College. Machine learning is then employed to predict gaps in the local food supply and assess access issues. Given the smaller scale and labour-intensive nature of Hawai’i’s 7,300 small farms, which often operate on sloped or rocky terrain, NASA’s data-driven approach aims to identify areas for expanding agricultural production, diversifying crops, and optimizing farming methods.
Hannah Kerner anticipates completing the first phase of the Maui food security dashboard within the next six months. The project’s continuation for the next five years will be funded by NASA Acres, a consortium focused on U.S. agriculture and food security. Kerner emphasized the broader impact of the initiative, stating, “We’re trying to help cultivate this network of people who locally have the tools and expertise to respond to issues that the community is facing—food security largely, but then it’s fires, and it’s also invasive species, flooding, and development. There are so many things.