What will it take to feed our future?

Kai Anamata mō Aotearoa National Conference is a three-day national gathering for anyone with a stake in the future of food in Aotearoa. Hosted by Wakatū Incorporation and Te Āwhina Marae in Motueka from 10 to 12 November 2026, it brings iwi, hapū, marae, science, enterprise, government and community together for a national conversation on food security in a changing world.

Aotearoa New Zealand is a nation shaped by food and our relationship with it. Kai is not one issue among many. It touches everything and everyone. We grow it, consume it, export it, and express identity and culture through it. Kai connects people to whenua, culture, health, livelihood and one another.

Climate change, technological disruption, global insecurity, economic pressures and biodiversity decline are converging as the major challenges and opportunities of our time. The food systems of our mokopuna are being shaped today. Across the motu, iwi, hapū, growers, researchers, scientists, businesses, leaders, practitioners and policymakers are already confronting these challenges. This conference weaves those threads together to connect, inform, align and amplify positive change.

Over three carefully curated days, the programme moves from global forces to local choices, from emerging knowledge to practical innovation, and from conversation to collective action. International contributors from Hawai‘i, Switzerland and Australia join many of Aotearoa New Zealand's leading voices in food sovereignty, nutrition, economics, public health, land use, environmental science and food enterprise. Speakers include Dr John Roche, Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister; Dr Jessica Hutchings; Professor Nick Roskruge; Moko Morris; Angela Clifford; Maury Leyland Penno; Dr Fabian Wahl of Agroscope, Switzerland; and other respected voices from Aotearoa and overseas.

The conference opens with a pōwhiri at Te Āwhina Marae on Tuesday 10 November. Wednesday at Motueka Memorial Hall includes the launch of the draft Te Tauihu Regional Food Strategy and the Motueka Call, followed by a conference dinner. Thursday brings the keynote from Dr Jessica Hutchings, the Motueka Call workshop and site visits to the local work already restoring relationships, landscapes and livelihoods in Motueka.

Join us in Motueka to:
-Hear international experts and specialists on food security in a changing world
-Engage with innovative new thinking, ideas and research on the future of food
-Discuss food security beyond the boundaries of your own sector or discipline
-Test your ideas and assumptions against different knowledge and experience
-Take away ideas, evidence and relationships relevant to decisions you are making now
-Build a platform for action with the Motueka Call and Te Tauihu Regional Food Strategy

If your work affects the food system, or the food system affects your work, you belong in this conversation. Come ready to listen, challenge, connect and contribute.

Early bird registration closes Saturday 19 September 2026. Places are limited. Programme, speakers, accommodation and registration: kaianamata.co.nz