The PGF is putting $370,000 into a kiwifruit project run through Te Kaha Landowners, an iwi consortium of six ahuwhenua trusts that own kiwifruit orchards across the East Cape area.
The initial funding is to be followed by as much as $13 million to boost iwi jobs in the remote region through horticultural projects aiming to create year-round employment for almost 200 people.
Kiwifruit Growers Inc chairman Doug Brown, a shareholder in some eastern orchards, welcomed the move in a region he said is rapidly gaining status for its ability to grow SunGold kiwifruit.
“This is highly positive news and good to see the Government backing this isolated, rural community district.”
Having been involved in the development of orchards throughout that district Brown said it will now have one of the highest percentages of SunGold orchards of any growing region.
“If you look way back the district has had a history of horticulture supplying the region. Crops mature relatively early and there are good, fertile soils. For kiwifruit growing you also get good summers. Possibly one of the constraining factors has been water supply.”
The funding that follows the initial grant is subject to successful planning work that will examine the development of a water distribution network. If successful, it will enable the expansion of 100ha of kiwifruit orchards on Maori land.
OPAC post-harvest processor chief executive Ian Coventry said the development marks the next step in a relationship established 20 years ago when OPAC made contact with iwi land owners there.
“We first saw land that had been in maize growing go to kiwifruit in the early 2000s and again in 2008-09.”
Coventry welcomes the investment in a water scheme that will involve building a storage facility and tapping flow from waterways.
“It will certainly unlock the potential you have in what is a very fertile, good growing district.”
His Opotiki company is discussing expansion plans for its packing facility as a result of the proposed orchard expansion up the coast.
The PGF project is a further injection for iwi engagement in the high-value horticultural sector in a region bestowed with quality soils but needing more investment to encourage development.
Other recent Bay of Plenty Maori investments in the sector include 100% iwi-owned Te Awanui Huka Pak taking a 17% stake in Seeka and a $30m investment programme to build 10 kiwifruit orchards in Bay of Plenty and Gisborne.
Iwi interests have also secure a 98 canopy hectare kiwifruit orchard producing 2.6m trays of Green and SunGold fruit last year near Te Puke. The sale was estimated to be valued at $65m to $75m.
The investments come in a region with a young Maori demographic – 44% of the population is under 15, compared to 33% nationally.
Maori earn $100 a week less than the average Bay of Plenty household income and 30% of household income is government-sourced.
Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones said the investment will also include a skills and training programme of core projects including the development of a trial kiwifruit nursery, science lab and a living wage horticultural pilot project.
“The living wage trial will annualise wages for horticultural workers across the whole year and could be used by the wider horticultural sector, leading to a more permanent workforce across the seasons,” he said.
