REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND THE UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA COLLEGE OF TROPICAL AGRICULTURE AND HUMAN RESILIENCE TO SUPPORT THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION'S SECONDARY AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION PROGRAM AND THE FUTURE FARMERS OF AMERICA PROGRAM.

This Senate Concurrent Resolution requests that the Hawaii Department of Education and the University of Hawaii at Manoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resilience support the state's secondary agricultural education program and the Future Farmers of America program. The bill aims to strengthen agricultural education in high schools to help address Hawaii's food security challenges by building a local agricultural workforce through expanded training and experiential learning opportunities. It specifically calls for the university to employ an extension agent to provide professional development and connect agricultural best practices to local schools, following a model used by other land-grant universities. The resolution does not allocate funding but instead formally asks state agencies to collaborate on revitalizing these educational programs that have seen declining enrollment since 2000.