Hon Nanaia Mahuta

Minister for Māori Development

MP for Hauraki-Waikato

2 May 2018 MEDIA STATEMENT

Minister for Māori Development Nanaia Mahuta encourages people with bold, innovative ideas for Māori economic development to apply for a fund that opens this week.

“The He kai kei aku ringa Fund, worth almost $1 million, is part of the national Māori economic development strategy,” Nanaia Mahuta said.

“Its vision is for a productive, innovative, export oriented Māori economy driven by whānau. The name means ‘providing food by my own hands’.

“We want to hear from people with initiatives that will help us to achieve this vision while using a distinctly Māori approach.”

Minister Mahuta says examples of initiatives suited to the fund include business incubators, programmes to prepare rangatahi for careers in the digital space. “Or there might even be hapū bringing people home to re-establish thriving papakāinga by creating sustainable jobs and education paths. We want to hear it all.”

Applications are encouraged for projects that will support whānau, hapū and iwi to meet their aspirations. Proposals should also focus on one or more of the strategy’s focus areas: employment, rangatahi, enterprise, regions and education.

The He kai kei aku ringa Fund is open to organisations with expertise in delivering economic development initiatives. Groups applying to the fund do not have to be Māori but the project does need to have a focus on Māori.

The previous He kai kei aku ringa funding round took place in 2017 as a closed application process.

Established in 2012, He kai kei aku ringa is a joint initiative between Te Puni Kōkiri and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

Applications close 28 May 2018.

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