Kaiwaka

KaiWaka is a kai resilience movement grounded in our wayfinding knowledge as People of Te Moana Nui a Kiwa.  It draws on the foundations of highly valued plants that were brought on the waka to Aotearoa.  We remember these ancestral roots that connect us to our homes across the Moana so we can be nourished and fed on their cultural goodness.

When we care for the waka, the waka takes care of us.

KaiWaka is a journey of transitioning whanau to a tupuna friendly, mokopuna friendly and climate friendly future. First we re:Member our cultural wealth, then re:Store the mana and mauri of the whenua, the Moana, and ourselves and lastly re:Imagine our future, where everybody is thriving.

We do this by connecting over kai - by cultivating the soil, raising good seeds, planting, harvesting, preparing kai, storing, cooking, collecting seeds and repeating. Together, with the local community we grow and share together.

Our Ko’anga; Our nursery - serves as a sanctuary. A safe haven where seeds passed down through lifetimes are lovingly protected and nurtured from the very start. Through our ko’anga nursery we cultivate a deeper understanding of the whakapapa - the origin of each plant, tracing their journey from seed to puku. Through hands-on workshops and regenerative practices, we want to empower our community to become stewards of the land, sustaining not only the harvest but the very soil that nourishes it. The PVA Kaiwaka model supports the natural circle of life, just as our ancestors once did, only now to do so within a modern and urbanised world. Together, we sow the seeds of a brighter future, where every plant nurtured is a step towards whānau-sufficiency and revitalised connections to the whenua. Join us as we give back to the earth that sustains us.

Hue and heritage corn at Mangere Mountain Education Centre nursery.

Ufi / Uwhi plant.

BYO everything.