Māori Agribusiness Innovation Fund

Māori Agribusiness Innovation Fund

Runs Māori Agribusiness Innovation Fund support for New Zealand Māori enterprises to test climate smart agribusiness ideas.

The Māori Agribusiness Innovation Fund (MAIF) is a New Zealand government grant program administered by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to support innovation by Māori-owned entities in the primary sector. The fund provides grants of up to NZD $250,000 per project and accepts applications on a rolling basis, subject to available funding. Eligible uses include concept investigation, demonstration activities, engagement of expert advice, and innovation development and evaluation across the primary sector value chain, covering horticulture, aquaculture, agriculture, and forestry. In-kind co-investment from the applicant is required; the minimum threshold is not publicly stated and must be confirmed with MPI at maoriagribusiness@mpi.govt.nz.

The fund has two hard eligibility gates: the applicant entity must be a legal entity registered and GST-registered in New Zealand, and at least 51% Māori ownership must be in place with key organizational decisions made by Māori. For-profit entities and nonprofits meeting those criteria are eligible; universities, research organizations, and individuals are not eligible to apply directly. MPI evaluates applications against eight published assessment criteria spanning economic, community, cultural, and environmental benefits, as well as innovation capacity and applicant capability. Weights for each criterion are not publicly disclosed.

Applicants should engage MPI's local Māori Agribusiness advisers at the earliest stage, both to confirm current fund availability and to strengthen applications by understanding how MPI interprets the eight assessment factors. The fund operates with no published round dates, so organizations should not time applications to a calendar cycle; instead, they should apply when a project is ready and confirm with MPI that budget remains available. Applications scoring strongly on the cultural (Ngā hua tikanga) and environmental (Ngā hua taiao) criteria alongside a credible innovation case are considered most competitive based on the published assessment framework.