Te Pāti Māori Launches Kai Sovereignty Policy

Afford the kai. Grow the kai. Own the system.

Te Pāti Māori MP for Hauraki-Waikato Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke unveiled Te Paati Māori Kai Sovereignty policy today from Kirikiriroa Social Supermarket run by Tamariki Tuu, Tamariki Ora.

A plan to help whānau afford kai now while rebuilding the power of communities to feed themselves.

“Aotearoa produces huge amounts of food, yet too many of our whānau are still struggling to put kai on the table,” said Maipi-Clarke.

“That is not a shortage of food. It is a failure of the system.”

The policy sets out a pathway from kai dependency to kai sovereignty by delivering immediate cost-of-living relief, investing in community and Māori food production, and building Māori ownership across the food system.

Te Pāti Māori will:

• introduce an Income Tax Kai Credit for people earning $60,000 or less, worth up to eight weeks of kai each year and estimated to support around 3 million people;

• establish a $100 million Community Kai Fund for home gardens, marae māra kai and community food farms;

• invest an additional $100 million into Mātai Ahuwhenua to grow regenerative Māori agriculture and diversified whenua-based production;

• invest $100 million into seed funding to support Māori-owned supermarket and retail alternatives;

• protect Māori seed, mātauranga and Indigenous plant whakapapa, including through WAI 262 protections.

“We do not want our people permanently dependent on food parcels, supermarket duopolies or corporate-controlled food chains.

“We want whānau growing kai, marae feeding communities, Māori producing kai, and our people owning more of the systems that distribute and sell it.

“Afford the kai. Grow the kai. Own the system.

“That is kai sovereignty.”