8 April, 2008, The Honolulu Advertiser
by Diana Leone
LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Koa Kahili has a vision of growing cacao — the raw material for chocolate — on a 10-acre farm on Kaua'i and making a living at it.
Though his crop choice is unusual, Kahili faces a challenge in common with other Hawai'i farmers: the need for affordable land.
Kahili has a couple of hundred cacao trees on a quarter-acre leased plot in Kapa'a. And he's got 1,800 seedlings ready to plant but nowhere to put them.
"I've been looking online, seeing what there is for sale," Kahili said. The best deal he could find was 2 1/2 acres in Kapahi for $400,000.
"It does have a house on it and it's ag land, but it's still way beyond my means," he said.
Though there are other...
Read More...
