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land sustainably for economic returns can be achieved through crops such as
taewa.” (Grower 1)
“I don’t think everyone can survive how we have [small-scale rural grower]… if
they need to be productive and make a living out of what they know or what
they are going to be taught then they have to be more professional in what
they do. Like if you want to become a producer of these indigenous crops, you
have to have a seller’s market, you have to guarantee production and all
these sorts of things. You can’t just grow some in the back garden and hope
you can supply a market somewhere without guaranteeing that you can
supply a certain amount for a certain amount of time. You have to do things in
a structured way, you can’t just have a back-garden vegetable garden you
know we have to become more professional, so that’s where the young
generations have to come in… We have to be professional if we want to make
it economically viable… there is a lot of competition now, you know with these
commercial growers contracted to supermarkets are cutting people out of
business… They [taewa] are niche crops to me and they are probably worth
more, you know they have a higher value, I mean now you have people
looking for these varieties and paying premium prices for them but we just
can’t supply them. You know the guaranteed production is not out there.”
(Grower 3)
In terms of the economic aspects of taewa production, growers in this case
study considered survival and economic sustainability as important. Growers
also identified the opportunities for economic success through taewa
production. Nevertheless, their success as taewa growers can not be
explained solely through economic analysis because the growers in this case
study prioritised other (non-tangible) aspects.
4.5 Maori values and tikanga
Kia mau ki to Maoritanga
Holdfast to your Maori culture
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