Storying Kaitiakitanga

How can the research be used? Ka pēhea e whai take ai te rangahau?

• Interviews with Māori agribusiness and food producers – including marae-based initiatives, small-to-medium business entities and Māori-led corporations – were distilled into reader-friendly stories that show the diverse practices and distinctive tangata whenua (people of the land) and awa relationships that exist in the Māori agribusiness and horticulture sectors. See summary sheets, below.
• This research identified 8 common values practiced by Māori food producers: kaitiakitanga, manaakitanga, mauri, wairua, moemoeā, whanaungatanga, tūranga and rangatiratanga (click links for English translation).
• Māori agrifood sector practices are informed by deep understanding of the interconnections and interdependencies between land, food, people and waterways. This research shows that these practices occur within diverse Māori economies at whānau, hapū, iwi and national levels, and result in a holistic, systems-based approach to farming and food that can create an ‘upward spiral’ of connected outcomes, such as oranga (well being), tatai hononga (building social capital), tiaki taiao (maintaining and enhancing natural capital), and ōhanga (growing prosperity, economic capital).
• Understanding and incorporating holistic Māori approaches into a national approach to farming, food and hospitality could improve land, water and food systems across Aotearoa, New Zealand.
• This research highlights Māori understandings of food as part of a cycle of reciprocity (tau utu utu) that must always benefit land, water and people.
• Adopting the ethics of kaitiakitanga more widely could drive transformations in land and water. Education about the concept of kaitiakitanga should always highlight the mutual obligations of guardianship and the physical, emotional and spiritual connectedness to place.