Food and fibre production on collectively owned whenua Māori

Whenua Māori (Māori land) is at the core of Te Ōhanga Māori, with the primary sector (or food and fibre sector) representing a foundational component of the Māori asset base and an important contributor to economic growth. 

Launched at Fieldays 2025, the June 2025 Situation and Outlook for Primary Industries (SOPI) produced by the Ministry for Primary Industries included provisional highlights from BERL research on the current use of whenua Māori and an assessment of its productivity potential.

Representing around ten percent of Aotearoa New Zealand’s land area, whenua Māori in primary production currently contributes an estimated $12 billion in direct output and $5.3 billion in direct gross domestic product (GDP) annually. There is, however, scope for greater levels of economic output to be produced annually by supporting and improving the utilisation of existing primary whenua Māori and by introducing currently vacant whenua Māori into primary production.

The provisional highlights are found in the SOPI special feature here with the full report expected in the coming months.