Pivot Award Research

An urban farming initiative was the starting point for a $100,000 premier research award looking at innovation in Taranaki's agriculture sector.

The research project, titled ‘Farming to Flourish’, has been led by social anthropologist Associate Professor Sita Venkateswar, from the School of People, Environment and Planning, and the Associate Professor and Associate Head of the School of Communication, Journalism and Marketing Dr Nitha Palakshappa, and drawing on Massey University's linkages with associates in Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

The research has involved a number of specific projects focused on both the production and consumption of regenerative food systems. Work has included informal interviews, site visits/field research, literature reviews, participation in public forums, data gathering and the development of detailed research activities.

The insight gained from this work is revealing a number of different aspects to what is a burgeoning, dynamic, successful small-scale farming sector in Taranaki. These include high labour, low inputs, environment enhancement, carbon capturing, community resilience development, life choices and balance, improved quality of nutrient-dense food, a realisation of scale in relation to productivity and labour, the variety of alternative economic solutions there are available to feed communities, the potential and appreciation of indigenous values inherent to food production, the capacity of the region to grow the sector and to work more collaboratively to further increase the gains that are already emerging.