Traditional Maori and traditional Aboriginal knowledge will join
hands in central Australia this week in a unique trans-Tasman
exchange of ideas and experiences in bush foods and Indigenous
art.
Following DKCRC’s highly successful ‘Hands Across
the Desert’ venture, in which Aboriginal communities
thousands of kilometres apart met to share knowledge and
experiences in the bush foods business, it was decided to establish
similar links with New Zealand, says Jenny Cleary, leader of the
DKCRC’s Bush Products Project.
As a result Maori artist and indigenous food grower Bella Paenga
and crop scientist Huub Kerckhoffs have spent the last few days
exploring Aboriginal enterprises round Alice Springs that produce
bush tomatoes, watermelons and traditional art under conditions as
starkly different from those of East Coast NZ as it is possible to
get.
“Despite the contrasting climates, there is a great deal
in common,” Jenny Cleary says. “Both Aboriginal and
Maori communities are using native foods to achieve economic
development, social cohesion and rewarding livelihoods in their
communities. They face similar challenges in participating in the
global food marketing chain. They have plenty of experiences to
compare and ideas to share.”
Bella and Huub return to Alice Springs tomorrow (Friday June 26)
after touring desert bush foods enterprises and art centres in
central Australia and are available to speak with media.
Bella Paenga represents the Tairawhiti ki Waiapa within Ngati
Porou (East Coast, North Island, NZ) and lives in Tikitiki, a small
village near the East Cape. She is a very committed young grower
and marketer of Maori potato and kumara as well as a skilled
weaver. Bella sees the cropping and marketing of indigenous foods
as a strong vehicle to ensure a viable community. She has helped
establish a website marketing local produce (www.ECOAotearoa.com)
and is helping to organise the 2010 East Coast Festival, which will
showcase indigenous foods, tourism and arts.
Huub leads ‘Best of Both Worlds’, a research program
funded by the NZ Foundation of Research, Science and Technology
that integrates Western science and Matauranga Maori (traditional
Maori knowledge) for sustainable cropping. “The aim is to
improve the economic productivity and sustainability of Maori land
via improved understanding of the processes that affect the way
Maori communities use scientific and traditional knowledge to guide
their cropping decisions,” he explains.
“It is very exciting to help bring these communities
together, across the Tasman. They face so many similar issues and
challenges – and linking up will bring encouragement to
both.”
Huub sees huge potential in indigenous foods, especially as the
world searches for a healthier diet as the answer to problems of
obesity and degenerative disease. “Many Indigenous
communities produce foods that could be widely sought – but
they do so in a small way, by traditional methods, and are often a
long way from meeting the demands of the commercial marketing
chain.
“Celebrity chefs are sometimes fascinated by traditional
foods – but there are risks in creating a market demand you
cannot fulfil. That said, many people are coming to view
traditional foods as a new form of haute cuisine and the potential
is tremendous.
“We are currently looking into forming a ‘Maori
One-Stop Shop’ that will be a virtual centre coordinating all
agronomy and marketing needs to successfully develop indigenous
crops into successful ventures,” he adds, describing an idea
shared with Aboriginal bush food producers.
Jenny Cleary adds that research in the DKCRC has shown that for
traditional foods to take part in the modern food value chain often
depends in the first instance on special relationships being
forged.
“The value chain is an economic structure, but in the bush
foods industry we have found the social context may be even more
important. People have to get to know and trust one another at the
personal level, before you go down the industry development
path.”
“This is vital to achieve a good flow of knowledge along
the chain, so suppliers know clearly what the market requires of
them – and the market in turn understands the limitations of
growing traditional foods or carrying out wild harvests,” she
says.
More information:
Jenny Cleary, DKCRC, ph 0429 699 387
Dr Huub Kerckhoffs, NZ Institute for Plant and Food Research, ph
+64 21850 050
Jan Ferguson, Managing Director, DKCRC, 08 8959 6041 or 0401 719
882
Prof. Julian Cribb, DKCRC media, 0418 639 245
http://www.desertknowledgecrc.com.au
