Prof Charles Eason
Professor Charles Eason (CNZM, CRSNZ, FRSNZ) is Pou Whakahaere Pūtaiao (Chief Scientist) at Wakatū Incorporation. He holds a PhD in biomedical research and began his career in Europe’s pharmaceutical sector, contributing to the global registration of new cardiovascular medicines.
In Aotearoa, he has held senior science leadership roles at Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research and Lincoln University, advancing innovations in environmental management and wildlife protection. At Wakatū, he is part of a Māori-led team developing a Te Tauihu Pharmacopoeia and Te Tauihu’s Regional Food Strategy alongside research restoring traditional horticultural practices as part of the Kai Anamata mō Aotearoa MBIE programme.
Where to from here? - Shared priorities to advance the regional food strategy 2030
Emeritus Professor Charles Eason (CNZM, CRSNZ, FRSNZ) at Lincoln University Pou Whakahaere Pūtaiao (Chief Scientist) at Wakatū Incorporation
Te Tauihu faces major food system pressures: environmental impacts from intensive production, exposure to natural and market shocks, uneven nutrition, and barriers to affordable, nutritious and culturally appropriate kai. A draft Te Tauihu Regional Food Strategy is emerging as a long-term, Māori-led blueprint for transforming the region’s food system. It aims to support healthy kai, healthy ecosystems, strong communities and a resilient regional economy for current and future generations.
Development has been led by a Regional Food Strategy Working Group and shaped through wānanga, evidence reviews, regional knowledge and examples from Aotearoa and overseas. The evidence base includes literature review, a Food Security Index, regional survey and community engagement, computational modelling, biodiversity and indigenous crop research. The strategy builds on the Te Tauihu Intergenerational Strategy and aligned initiatives, including Kore Hiakai Zero Hunger Collective’s work on food-secure communities.
By bringing together mātauranga Māori, science, systems modelling, community knowledge and national and international experience, this conference helps identify practical pathways for resilient food systems. It has explored national, regional, local and Indigenous food systems and will strengthen the draft strategy for Te Tauihu.
The final strategy is to be completed in 2028, with implementation steps defined through to 2030. Its next stage will be informed by Kai Anamata mō Aotearoa – Food Security in a Changing World and a future focused roadmap summarised in this presentation. Transformation cannot be delivered by one organisation alone. It will require collective leadership and coordinated action across iwi, communities, growers, producers, researchers, industry and local government.
Kai Anamata mō Aotearoa
10–12 November 2026 · Motueka Memorial Hall