Ma¯ori horticulture booming
Ma¯ori horticulture has grown 300 per cent in the past 12 years and is set to continue its trajectory, new research shows.
A report from economic consultancy Berl, commissioned by Te Puni Ko¯ kiri, the Ministry of Primary Industries and Horticulture New Zealand, shows growing Ma¯ ori ownership in the sector. The estimated gross output of Ma¯ori horticulture in New Zealand is $220 million a year.
Berry exporter Miro, which means berry in Ma¯ ori, is just one example of the kind of horticultural operation Ma¯ori are engaged in. It produces highvalue exports on Ma¯ ori land and employs Ma¯ ori people.
The startup was founded three years ago by a group of Ma¯ori land owners and entities with the vision to positively transform the land and its people.
Growing a variety of Australian blueberries called Eureka, using an ‘‘ultra-modern, highprecision system’’, Miro has just completed its second harvest, exporting around half of it.
Chief executive Liz Te Amo
said blueberries were chosen because of their superfood status and global popularity. New Zealand blueberries had similar potential to kiwifruit in terms of returns for the grower, she said.
‘‘Ma¯ ori in the primary sector all share the same aspirations of economic rangatiratanga – being in charge of our own economic future, the idea that you grow over your own land where you can pursue your own intellectual property.’’
Nelson company Kono, established in 2012 as the food and beverage arm of Wakatu¯ Incorporation, is similarly owned by families affiliated to at least one of four iwi at the top of the South Island – Nga¯ti Ra¯rua, Nga¯ti
Koata, Te A¯ tiawa, and Nga¯ti
Tama.
Kono operates vineyards, orchards, mussel and oyster farms, and a craft brewery, exporting to 35 markets. It also has a strong focus on building the health of the land and its people.
According to the Berl report, approximately 5 per cent – around 4000 hectares – of the horticultural land in New Zealand is operated by Ma¯ori authorities, organisations and individuals.
Around 1150ha are used to grow kiwifruit, the crop with the largest Ma¯ ori share, followed by onion, squash, avocados, and apples.
Ma¯ori own approximately 400,000ha of farm land, but more than half is used for sheep, beef and dairy farming and less than 1 per cent is dedicated to horticulture.
But converting land has become increasingly common.
Te Amo said this spoke to a desire among Ma¯ori to lift the productivity of the land, which is one part of Miro’s kaupapa.
Miro farms 40ha of the berries across 12 orchards around the North Island. The company grows them in a fully automated system called fertigation. It uses 30-litre pots under tunnels and plants are fed a mixture of water and nutrients through drippers.
Te Amo said it was a sustainable way of growing because plants were only given what they needed, and there was minimal leaching.
The other part of the kaupapa is to provide long-term, sustainable employment for more people, and to provide skills and grow careers.
It currently employs 157 local Ma¯ori at Te Teko, who whakapapa back to Nga¯ ti Awa, the block of land, or the shareholders, and employs around 500 across the group. ‘‘The model is similar to Zespri. Collective growing, at scale, getting technically excellent, developing our own brand, and marketing overseas,’’ Te Amo said.
An estimated 3800 Ma¯ ori work directly in the horticulture sector. This represents around 28 per cent of the workforce, but they occupy only 4 per cent of the leadership roles.