Noel Dakar Dickinson

Noel Dakar Dickinson’s work promotes understanding of the importance of breadfruit, called “‘ulu” in Hawaiian. Grown in nearly 90 countries as a staple crop, breadfruit is a culturally significant source of sustenance and a symbol of food security, community and connection to place.

Noel’s work at the Breadfruit Institute of the National Tropical Botanical Garden includes research, community outreach and conservation efforts. Through her advocacy and study of agroforestry techniques related to ‘ulu, Noel is building the case that breadfruit can help enhance year-round food security efforts, regenerate soil health, and contribute to local and global food sustainability. Noel has hands-on skills learned on her family’s Waikahe Farms, and she has trained volunteers and schoolchildren on how to cultivate and grow small-scale agroforests.

Efforts like Noel’s — and the Regenerative Organic Breadfruit Agroforest — aim to promote and reestablish breadfruit as a staple food. This community action could help reduce Hawai‘i’s dependence on the mainland U.S. by promoting increased local food production and sustainability. 

Noel’s work aligns with traditional Hawaiian values of environmental stewardship and respect for nature. In Hawaiian culture, ‘ulu trees represent abundance and sharing. Sharing breadfruit was, and still is, a way to express hospitality in the spirit of aloha, the Hawaiian values of love, compassion and communal harmony.

For more information on her work, visit www.breadfruit.org and www.waikahefarms.com.