A Taitokerau initiative is helping communities strengthen food security and climate resilience through the revival of traditional gardening practices.

Based at Ngāwhā Innovation and Enterprise Park, The Peru Packhouse – led by Āteanui Ltd founders Moana Timoko and Tahu Warmington – has become a respected hub for kai resilience, specialising in growing peruperu, Māori potatoes.

The project recently received funding from Northland Regional Council’s Climate Resilient Communities Fund, which Moana says helped cover costs of expanding peruperu crops and preparing a stock of purapura (seed) for intensive wānanga.

Guided by the maramataka (an ancestral lunar calendar), the wānanga involve sharing information about growing practices and identifying optimal times for planting and harvesting to help whānau grow their own produce and build sustainable food systems.

More than 80 whānau attended last year. Whānau had the opportunity to purchase seed to plant their own peruperu in designated plots, maintaining and harvesting their produce according to the maramataka.

What began in 2020, with just 1,000 seeds, has grown into a seed bank of approximately 1 million, with the project now supporting some whānau of the Hokianga to grow on a large scale.

Āteanui Ltd was one of seven 2025 Food Resilience (Te Kai) funding recipients, supporting projects that create low-carbon, sustainable regional food systems while fostering community and tangata whenua well-being.

For Moana and Tahu, however, the kaupapa is much more than just growing kai.

“We’ve created a visible example for our whānau to observe and learn from, using the ancestral wisdom of our tūpuna. We’re bringing that learning into the future so we can sustain a future for our mokopuna.”

Learn more: nrc.govt.nz/climateresiliencefunding