Maori agribusiness focus of seminar

Māori agribusiness is a government priority, and MPI has work under way partnering with Māori to support them in maximising the sustainable use of their primary sector assets.

"There is a discernible shift happening in the ownership and management of Māori freehold land," says MPI director general Wayne McNee.
"Māori landowners are taking a more active approach to fully capitalise on huge gains possible by increasing the productivity and profitability of assets, and by making the most of opportunities to develop the value of its primary produce.

"Our estimates show that this could generate another $1.1 billion in export revenue, which would make a real difference to Māori communities and the wider New Zealand economy."

The seminar brings together a range of perspectives from the agriculture sector with a panel of six prominent people involved in Māori agribusiness including Traci Houpapa from the Federation of Māori Authorities; Jamie Tuuta (pictured) , the Māori Trustee; Kingi Smiler from Miraka Ltd; and Ben Dalton of MPI's Māori Primary Sector Partnerships branch.

The one-hour seminar is aimed at anyone involved with Māori agribusiness and will include time to answer questions from the floor.
The seminar will be at 10am on Friday in the Function Centre next to the main pavilion and is one of six free seminars hosted by MPI at Fieldays 2013. As Premier Feature Partner, MPI also has a stand in the main pavilion, with staff on hand to provide information and answer questions about the Ministry's role to grow and protect the primary industries and its major current priority to support growth in the value of exports.