Kai Resilience Aotearoa: a movement home for stronger local food systems

Kai resilience means communities that can grow, share and access healthy kai independently — through ordinary life, rising costs, disruption and change. Kai Resilience Aotearoa is the new movement and partnership home for that work in New Zealand.

It is an initiative of Vector Group Charitable Trust (CC45966), based in Te Puke in the Bay of Plenty and working nationwide. The site was built by Te Puke Digital.

Not just “grow more food”

Household gardens matter. So do crop swaps, food forests, pātaka kai, school māra, nurseries and neighbourly networks. What often goes missing is the connective tissue: practical learning, planning tools, and a way for people to find what already exists nearby.

That is the gap kairesilience.org is designed around. It explains why local food capability matters, then points people into the platforms that turn intention into practice.

Learn → Apply → Connect

The pathway is straightforward:

1. Learn — Free courses and workshops through Food Resilience School NZ
2. Apply — Plan regenerative sites in RegenOS and use free grower tools
3. Connect — Find or list projects on the national directory at kairesilience.food

Framework pillars used across the work are Know · Grow · Share · Learn · Connect, with a fuller Resilience Check on kairesilience.com.

Rooted in Te Puke, open to Aotearoa

The Trust’s kai programme grew from Te Puke practice — community growing, food forests, plant gifting, education and digital infrastructure — then opened nationally so growers and projects everywhere can find each other. Regional examples live on Grow Te Puke, Troppo and Food Forests NZ, with Bay of Plenty regional context also through Kiwifruit.Capital.

Who it is for

• Households — one plant, one skill, one swap at a time
• Communities — map and list local kai capability
• Schools — practical growing and food literacy pathways (without claiming curriculum endorsement)
• Organisations and partners — visible infrastructure without reinventing a website every season

Start here

Visit https://kairesilience.org/ to understand the challenge, take action where you are, or explore partnership with the Trust.

If you already run a garden, crop swap, food forest or kai project, list it on the directory so your community can find you.

Contact: [email protected]
Charity: Vector Group Charitable Trust · CC45966 · NZBN 9429045972324