What current methods do Māori use to manage money? What financial products and services are likely to be effective for Māori and how might these be successfully implemented? What support can Māori organisations (including iwi) and the government provide to increase whānau financial literacy and savings?

Poverty within many Māori communities is perpetuated by low incomes, poor financial literacy and a lack of whānau role models who encourage saving. For change to occur, financial education, collaborative community efforts and radical behavioural shifts are required.

The overarching question driving this research is, what are the critical success factors for Southern Māori SMEs at the different stages of the business life-cycle? To address this question the project team will undertake an in-depth case-study of Southern SMEs and in order to answer the overarching research question, the following questions will be investigated: 1. What are the characteristics of SMEs at the different stages of the business life-cycle (start-up, growth, resource maturity, take off)?

Ōkahu Bay lies adjacent to Te Whenua Rangatira, occupying a dominant headland near the mouth of the Waitemata Harbour, collectively the ancestral home of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei. The spiritual significance of the land was recognised by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei ancestors who sought to safeguard Te Whenua Rangatira as a place which links water, land, forest and sky (Tangaroa, Papatūānuku, Tānemahuta and Ranginui) maintaining a strong link with surrounding cultural landmarks within the isthmus and beyond. Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei consulted widely amongst their people and asked them to describe how they would know when their relationship with Ōkahu Bay had been restored.

Author: Nick Allison

In 2014 Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (NPM) commissioned a report from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research (NZIER) to assess the economic, social and other impacts of the Māori Centre of Research Excellence.

A summary of key findings from this research impact evaluation were:

Some economists argue for diversity in the way collective resources are managed rather than an unquestioning faith in leaving things to the market. We support this thinking and looked at how ethics and Māori knowledge can be used equally alongside economics in managing collective Māori assets.

We argue that simple measures of collective well-being used alongside mainstream economics are robust enough to help us make collective decisions. Our team developed a Māori knowledge and ethics based decision-making framework for collective assets. This framework is being tested and refined using three case studies with our iwi/hapū partners.

Objectives

What are the bases for Māori enterprise collaboration? How do Māori activate Indigenous entrepreneurial capabilities for collaboration and what forms do Māori enterprise collaborations take?

By exploring Māori enterprise collaboration as a fundamental but challenging strategy for Māori economic development, this project identifies principles and models which can inform Māori and non-Māori about enterprise collaboration. It does this by using mātauranga Māori, kaupapa Māori, tikanga Māori and te reo Māori, as well as considerations of non-Māori principles, practices and technologies for enterprise collaboration.

Intern: Jonothan Rau

Supervisor: Dr Shaun Awatere

Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga/Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research

This research project seeks to identify horticultural land use opportunities in Māori-owned Wairoa, Te Tairawhiti rohe. The outcomes of this project are to monitor and assess current soil and water trends to determine the most suitable crops for preventing wind and water erosion. Methods include district scale spatial analysis (Reid et. al 2006) to determine the most suitable crops, of which are saffron, feijoa and gevuina.

This project continued into a Master’s study in January, 2018.

The theory of value research platform is concerned with considering:

• How can the values that drive the Māori economy be understood and articulated within a theoretical context?
• How can the values that drive the Māori economy be utilised by Māori communities to enhance wellbeing?

The theory of value platform project seeks to build on research conducted by the Whai Rawa theme in the areas of Indigenous economics and entrepreneurship and Māori enterprise. Māori values research has indicated that they go beyond Māori business and entrepreneurship.

In this platform research, our focus makes the distinction between ‘kai’ as a culturally defined Māori notion and western interpretations of ‘food’. “He moumou kai, he moumou tāngata” describes a state where our existence and futures as healthy Māori people (Mauri Ora: Human Flourishing) are put at risk because our kai sources (Te Tai Ao: The Natural Environment), including access to kai, growing kai, preparing kai, the lore/law pertaining to kai, and control of kai systems (Whai Rawa: Māori Economies) is diminishing.  Without kai or wai the people will perish! 

The overarching research platform questions include: