The Linkages of Agriculture to Hawaii’s Economy

The CTAHR Economic Issues publication EI-3, Agriculture’s Contribution to Hawaii’s Economy— An Update, reported that in year 2000 agriculture con­ tributed 3.3 percent of total Hawaii sales, 2.2 percent of total real GSP, 3.8 percent of employment, and 2.2 per­ cent of labor income. That publication measured the contribution of agriculture in terms of its size relative to the entire Hawaii economy in a given time period. The present publication focuses on the significance of agriculture’s relations to the rest of the economy. In particular, we measure both the backward and forward linkages of agriculture to other sectors in Hawaii’s economy. These linkage measurements allow us to esti­ mate how development of agriculture might be trans­ mitted to other sectors in the economy. We also con­ struct linkage indices to compare the linkage strength of agriculture sectors to those of other sectors. Knowing the relative strength of sectors’ linkages provides us with an alternative view in assessing the relative importance of agriculture as a whole and its various sub-sectors com­ pared to other sectors in Hawaii’s economy. Finally, we simulate the possible backward linkage impacts of the disappearance of the entire agriculture sector.