After spending many years away studying and developing her career, which included a diplomatic posting overseas, Katie Paul returned home to her whanau in Rotorua. Her exceptional skills and abilities were immediately recognised by her aunties who asked Katie to put her name forward to be a trustee on two of her family land trusts. Katie viewed the position as a way to continue the vision of her elders.“When I was growing up the old people had visions of utilising the land to create wealth and employment for future generations. If the land is well governed and managed it can provide those kinds of opportunities.”

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“Through her involvement as a trustee of Taheke Paengaroa and Tautara Matawhaura Maori Land Trust, Katie has seen the necessity to encourage more young people to take on similar responsibilities. “The governance system we have now has been inherited from the Maori Land Court. Traditionally the court appointed governors who held a status and were of an older age group. The legacy of that system currently is that young people are not usually involved in the decision making processes of the whenua,” says Katie.

“The former diplomat acknowledges many land trusts face the challenge of attracting young people to join their boards. Many seek opportunities to work or educate themselves away from home and do not return. And while some trusts have decided to counter this issue by co opting skilled young people from the cities, Katie believes this is not an ideal solution because many may only have had limited contact with their tribes and hapu. “I think the difficulty with that situation is that people from the city often don’t know who they are. They just fly in from Auckland or Wellington, make the decisions, and then fly out. I think that only works to a point but if you are going to grow an asset base, you have to engage with the people on a daily basis. You can’t do that from the cities.”

Walking down a supermarket aisle in Osaka, Japan will never be the same. A new buzz is in the air and it’s taking the land of the Samurai by storm. Ora Honey is a sweet sensation that’s not only putting ‘Maori Made’ on the top shelves of high end Japanese supermarkets, but has also found a home in Ireland, England, France and Germany.

Ora Honey is the brain child of Whakaari International but it was Te Whanau-a-Apanui tribal leader, Eddie Matchitt, who began the journey. Matchitt was looking for employment opportunities for the community of Whangaparaoa. At the time, the powerful anti-bacterial and medicinal qualities of the manuka tree were becoming recognised internationally. So in 2001, Matchitt got together a number of Maori land incorporations who put up half-a-million dollars to buy three small bee keeping companies. After running into cash flow problems, Wira was brought on board both as an investor and mentor to the company.

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“Now Whakaari International markets and distributes 50-60 tonnes of honey annually for Te Whanau-a-Apanui and Wira’s own company called East Coast Beekeepers under the Ora Honey brand. China and Dubai are new markets which have indicated interest in the product, and Wira says they will soon rebrand as ‘Ora Honey, Maori Manuka Honey.’ “We are lifting our game because overseas consumers want to buy an authentic, indigenous product. Kind of like how Tohu have marketed themselves internationally. Even with the global recession they still want our honey.”

“Despite the up take of beekeeping has been slow on the East Cape, Wira remains confident that eventually more tribes will go into the business not purely as suppliers but as owners. “We are looking to build a million dollar operation into a multi-million dollar business in the next two to three years. We’re also considering franchising our operation so ownership can be shared between our company and other hapu who buy into it. It’s in our company’s best interests to make maximum profits, so what ever profits we make, they make as well.”

WHANGARA B5 was established during the era of Sir Apirana Ngata’s land consolidation schemes. During this period East Coast farming communities were serviced by nearby coastal shipping ports, providing ready access to markets. With the eventual closure of the ports and local freezing works, these events severely impacted on many of the geographically isolated beef and sheep stations.

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Before we combined we had two lots of everything, tractors, office equipment and farm workers. Now we’ve been able to save on wages and when we send our stock to town we don’t need two lots of trucks.” Ingrid says the partnership has also profited from the benefits of scale.

“When we started Whangara had 16,000 sheep and 9000 cattle. By joining together we presently have 45,000 stock units, with the aim of reaching 60,000 in another few years. We’ve also discovered that it’s better to have more lambs than larger sized lambs. The longer you have them on your property eating more grass, the more they cost.”

As world petrol prices rise yet again, a group of Maori land owners from the far north are collaborating on a venture which could offer a local solution to energy production. At least that’s what 710 Enterprises, a collective of organic growers based in Kaikohe, are banking on. The group have hatched an ambitious plan to manufacture their own bio-fuel oil from jatropha.

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“The little known jatropha tree is steadily growing a reputation worldwide as a sustainable alternative to ethanol, which is derived from food sources such as corn and sugar cane. Coordinator of 710 Enterprises, Ranga Hohaia, is currently overseeing the collective’s first trial of jatropha on New Zealand soils. He explains the tree offers Maori communities an excellent opportunity to amalgamate Maori land. “What attracted us to growing the plant was that it utilises small Maori land blocks effectively. It also allows us to potentially generate our own power.”

“While biofuel production has been criticised for competing with agricultural interests for food production, Ranga says Jatropha offers an interesting solution. Not only does it grow on waste lands, but it can potentially turn those lands into areas later used for food production. One of the major benefits of the jatropha tree is that it actually fixes nitrogen into the soil, making the ground more fertile.”

The animals on Percy Tipene’s farm don’t eat any old grass – they feast on gourmet salad. Twenty four different species of plants including blackberry, wiwi and fern root grow on the pasture of his Motatau property which is untouched by agri-chemicals and managed by companionship gardening methods. “My cows have a healthy diet because of the variety of trace minerals contained in their kai. I don’t need to do any drenching because their immune systems are strong enough to repair any deficiencies within their bodies.”

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“Percy has a steady market for his organic beef and he says a major attraction for his regular clients is that they can trace the whakapapa or geneology of what they are eating, and how the animals are managed. But as Percy explains, it wasn’t money that initially motivated him to get into the organics industry, but rather passing on his knowledge. ”When I first went into it I wanted to educate young people about how to grow good quality kai for themselves. Now I believe there is a golden opportunity for Maori to take a major lead in the production of organic kai which is based on our distinct cultural point of difference.”

“Percy is positive about the future for Hua Maori and says tribes with lots of unproductive lands, which are chemical free, are the sleeping giants of the organics industry. Te Waka Kai Ora sees the priority for organic producers to be the sustainability of people and the land. If we can bring that into our marketing strategies, Maori could benefit a lot, says Percy. “A priority for us is the sovereignty of our kai. People say when you talk about the sovereignty of the cow, we never brought them here. But it’s not the sovereignty of the animal alone, it’s the sovereignty of how we manage the whenua and provide goodness for both. That kind of philosophy has true Maori added value.”

The Maori economy is undergoing a time of transformation. According to figures from 2006, Maori- owned commercial assets are now worth $16.5 billion. This figure is set to continue growing as a number of large treaty settlements transfer millions of dollars of assets back to Iwi.

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“But converting capital into high growth assets over the next five to 10 years is going to mean a radical shift in Maori business. With nearly 52% of Maori commercial assets currently invested in primary industries, Wira says there is a need to consider a diverse range of investment options which add cash to iwi balance sheets.”

“The surprising thing about the current recession is that it presents us with an unprecedented assortment of options. “Some of us have around $20 million dollars each. If a number of iwi got together we could easily raise $150 million. Given the global economic crisis, there is an opportunity to buy a strategic asset in New Zealand right now.”

As the head of Poutama Business Trust, Richard Jones has met with many indigenous business leaders from North America, Australia and Asia-Pacific. After travelling around the world he says he has found that many indigenous peoples are looking to Maori for economic leadership.

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“The fisheries settlement process in particular has been held up as a model by other indigenous nations says Richard who believes Maori can offer other excellent examples. “There are some indigenous nations who may be rich in resources such as minerals, but are passive participants in their wealth extraction. Instead of participating in the mining of their minerals, they are only receiving a royalty. The difference with Maori is that we are integrated into the economy and active participants in the management and added value of our resources.”

“Supporting Maori businesses to add value is one of the major initiatives Poutama focuses on and Richard Jones cannot emphasise enough the comparative advantage Maori and other indigenous cultures have over their competition. “There’s a huge consumer base out there who are looking for something natural, unique and genuine. And as long as you can maintain your cultural values then you have points of difference which you can market.” Wakatu Incorporation’s Tohu brand is cited by Richard as a good case study of a Maori company who have capitalised on their distinct cultural identity out in the market place, and are amongst the forerunners in adding value to their products.”

Rotorua has long been ingrained as one of the most popular tourism destinations in Aotearoa. And the jewel of the geothermal wonderland’s crown is Te Puia, New Zealand’s oldest and most visited cultural centre. Over the last 18 months, the centre has worked hard to re-brand its image not purely as a tourist destination but as a premier cultural experience.

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“The prioritisation of cultural integrity over commerce has also meant the reframing of all of Te Puia’s storytelling into a Maori knowledge context. “There are no myths and legends in our culture, they are knowledge systems. When you talk myths and legends you are conjuring up a Disney perspective of our culture.” And that’s far from the kind of education that Te Puia hopes will invigorate its students and 65 staff who are mostly from within the Whakarewarewa Valley. They are, after all, continuing in the traditions of their whanau who worked in roles such as guides or carvers.”

“With a truely unique value proposition that brings a positive return not only to balance sheets but to the local community, Te Puia is the only centre of its kind internationally that is self-funded. Similar cultural centres are subsidised by other sources of income. For iwi who want their own cultural centre, Te Taru explains that they have to decide on the values driving the business. “They have to decide if they want to make a profit, if they want to break even or if they want to make a statement about their identity.”