Kai West grows the capacity for local food initiatives to thrive by connecting and strengthening communities across the West Auckland area. The collective emerged from the Collaborative Marketplace in 2017, where community organisations came together to find ways to collectively support the people of West Auckland.

We firmly believe that access to food is a fundamental human right. We are committed to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and to honour mana whenua, tāngata whenua and kai sovereignty through our work, while recognising the mana of all people. Our collective is grounded in the belief that true kai resilience and sovereignty can only be achieved when communities lead, shape, and hold the systems that nourish them. Our approach uses the Collective Impact model as a backbone, creating the conditions for shared purpose, aligned actions, and continuous learning, while recognising that the real power for transformation comes from the people and relationships within the system. 

Each partner organisation brings to Kai West their diverse knowledge and connections to community networks, so we can collectively activate opportunities that cover the entire food system. Together, we are designing the foundations for a new, community led kai system to emerge in West Auckland at the same time that the old dominant food system is becoming increasingly unsustainable and failing too many whānau. Rather than trying to fix what is broken, Kai West is helping to grow the conditions in which something new, resilient, and regenerative can take root.