Who We Are

Our Vision:

A Food Secure Aotearoa

Our Purpose:

Beginning in 2018, Kore Hiakai Zero Hunger Collective is committed to addressing the root causes of food-related poverty and working towards a food secure Aotearoa New Zealand.

We build Te Tiriti grounded, long-term, sustainable solutions to ensure all people, at all times, have agency and access to enough nourishing, affordable, sustainably-sourced, culturally-appropriate food.

Our Work:

Kore Hiakai Zero Hunger Collective brings us together in Kotahitanga: whānau, iwi, hapū, kaupapa Māori organisations, community, farmers, fishers, hunters, divers, growers, manufacturers, retailers, distributors, philanthropy, policy makers, local and central government and more.

Our kaupapa is guided by our Kai Rawa Trust and implemented by our Kaimahi unit. We follow three strategic pou:

Mana Centred Practice - to champion mana centred practice across all aspects of our mahi
Systems Transformation - to see transformative change in the current structural systems* to bring about a food secure Aotearoa
*The current structural systems are ones that perpetuate poverty resulting in food insecurity
Relationship Building - to establish relationships and collaborations that will enable food security to be experienced by all in Aotearoa

Our Name:

E kore, e kore, e kore hiakai!
There shall never, ever be hunger for our people!
Offered from a phrase used in whaikōrero, gifted to us as an expression of our rootedness in Aotearoa.
This part of our name references the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #2:
‘Zero Hunger’ - creating a world free of hunger by 2030.
We chose this to signal our connection to the worldwide movement to address food-related poverty.
As no one group will solve food insecurity or create food security alone, we intend to do this collectively and collaboratively across many sector, with kotahitanga.

Our Values:

We recognise that food insecurity is driven by systems but experienced by Atua and people.

The culture of Kore Hiakai Zero Hunger Collective prioritises a Te Tiriti lens, relationships, listening and reflecting, looking for equity and inclusion, careful languaging, gentle disruption, and scaling deep.

Our values include: Ūkaipōtanga, Whanaungatanga, Manaakitanga, Kaitiakitanga, Wairuatanga, Kotahitanga, Rangatiratanga.

Kore Hiakai Zero Hunger Collective sit within the Kāwangatanga sphere of the Te Tiriti relationship, as we are created under Kāwanatanga laws and framework.
Identifying Kore Hiakai as part of the Kāwanatanga side of Te Tiriti relationships invites us to continuously seek Te Ao Māori understandings and deep relationships with Tangata Whenua to help shape and guide all aspects of our mahi. This is part of addressing root causes to poverty, including addressing the actions of the past which, as a Kāwanatanga organisation, we have responsibility for as a Te Tiriti partner.
As agents of change Kore Hiakai recognise the role that Tangata Tiriti plays by requiring Tangata Tiriti to share power and acknowledge the wisdom and rangatiratanga of Tangata Whenua. Kore Hiakai commit to embedding a Tiriti frame in all aspects of our practice and organisational structure, our strategic plan and everyday mahi, in our kaimahi unit, our wider network and in our strategic leadership. This is a continuous process. Kore Hiakai are committed to regularly reflecting on Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and the effects of colonisation, continuously refining and resetting our practices.
Within the recognition of the role that Te Tiriti o Waitangi plays in guiding our decisions and behaviours we recognise the unique place of Tangata Moana in Aotearoa, as both Tuakana to Tangata Whenua, and teina. We recongise the systematic racism that has shaped our policies, practices and attitudes towards Tangata Moana resulting in many experiencing the effects of inter-generational Poverty, including food insecurity. We seek to redress this balance by prioritising the voice of Tangata Moana within all aspects of our practice and organisational structure, our strategic plan and everyday mahi, our kaimahi, our wider network and our strategic leadership.

Feedback on our mahi

The Aotearoa Food Parcel Measure was extremely useful as it gave us a formula to ensure kai oranga was delivered by providing nutritionally adequate food to our hapori. We then then added rongoā Maori to cater for our whānau wellbeing. Being able to Access this tool made the volumes of ordering and delivery easier for us to manage while knowing our whānau were eating well.

Community Connector , Te Puna Oranga o Ōtaki
As the Wellington City Missioner, a key part of my role is to advocate for the people we serve – both individually and systemically. It is sometimes hard for others to understand just how hard and challenging life is for some in our community. Ka Mākona is an extraordinary resource in this context. I have used the first two editions of Ka Mākona extensively to explain and demonstrate the economic and social disadvantage that some are struggling with. It is critical to have analysis that has integrity; and having a detailed report of the costs of living for multiple scenario households that is produced using verifiable data from credible sources is like gold for decision-makers, policy-developers, and all those involved in community support. With the production of Ka Mākona, Kore Hiakai has offered the social services sector an opportunity to be better at what they do, because of what they can now know; and for that I am very grateful!

Murray Edridge, Wellington City Missioner.
The Realising Food Secure Communities in Aotearoa report takes a broad view of some excellent and detailed work and synthesises the insights from a swathe of initiatives all calling for the same thing – change. The Report is galvanizing, in that none of us is in this alone, and spectacular for the diversity it highlights, in that there is more than one way to imagine and realise food secure communities in Aotearoa.

Amber Hammil, Waikato Wellbeing Project
The fantastic research work done by Kore Hiakai in its Aotearoa Food Parcel Measure (AFPM) and the accompanying Nutritional Guide, was the ideal platform for NZFN to benchmark the details required to calculate the weight of an average meal. The clarity and depth of information allowed us to be confident that in amending the existing measure (of 350grams per meal) up to a more relevant measure (of 450grams per meal) it was based on rigorous and well documented research. The nutrition guide has also helped guide NZFN around which foods we procure so we can offer communities the foods that are needed for a healthy and balanced diet.

Gavin Finlay, New Zealand Food Network
Kairos Foodbank in Kerikeri services a wide rural area and mid-north towns. We appreciate the support offered by Kore Hiakai as a channel for us to offer feedback as to how food security is, or is not, working in our community. We also value to opportunity to hui with other providers throughout the motu. The AFPM challenged us to bring our parcel contents into even greater nutritional balance, for example, swapping out excess carbohydrates such as noodles for protein, lentils, at similar cost. We contributed feedback to the development of the foodbank cookbook, of which we love to include a page from in each of our parcels.

Erin Titmus, Kairos Foodbank Coordinator Kerikeri

Item 1 of 5

Our Vision:

A Food Secure Aotearoa

Our Purpose:

Our Work:

Our Name:

Kore Hiakai

Zero Hunger

Collective

Our Values:

Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Te Moana nui a Kiwa Commitment: