Overarching framework
Agroecology & kai resilience
Agroecology is the science, practice, and movement that unifies everything in this planner — from syntropic and permaculture design to rongōā, community kai, and free educational tools for Aotearoa.
Agroecology applies ecological principles to farming and food systems — emphasising biodiversity, nutrient cycling, co-created knowledge, cultural food traditions, and fair access to kai. It is not a single technique but the overarching lens through which Vector Group Charitable Trust publishes these tools and through which Kai Resilience serves communities.
Vector Group Charitable Trust
Charitable mission
Orchard Planner and the Troppo ecosystem are published free for personal and educational use by Vector Group Charitable Trust — a registered New Zealand charity focused on resilient local food, grower education, and community access to practical horticultural knowledge. Agroecology centres that mission: knowledge shared openly, systems that reduce dependence on costly inputs, and tools that help whānau and communities grow dependable kai.
- Free & open — planner, directories, and calendars at no cost
- Te Puke rooted — built in the kiwifruit capital, for all Aotearoa
- Community kai — education, access, and food resilience
- Digital + land — tools online, proof on the ground
Programme focus
Kai Resilience
Kai Resilience is the trust’s community food programme — connecting growers, mapping local access, and building buffers against supply disruption. Where permaculture designs the guild and syntropic farming cycles biomass, agroecology asks: who eats, who learns, who decides, and how does the system endure? Kai Resilience is where that question meets practice.
- Food access — dependable local kai for households & communities
- Knowledge sharing — co-created grower wisdom, free & open
- Ecological integrity — biodiversity, soil, water, climate adaptation
- Cultural respect — MÄtauranga Māori & diverse food traditions
Living demonstration · Te Puke, Bay of Plenty
Troppo · Tropical urban food forest
Where agroecology meets the street
In the heart of Te Puke — the kiwifruit capital of the world — Troppo is a tropical urban food forest: stacked canopy, subtropical species, syntropic biomass cycles, and community kai on a town-scale plot. It is the living proof behind this planner and the Grow Te Puke movement.
Digital ecosystem · built in Te Puke
Visit & learn · demonstration sites
Troppo · tropical urban food forest
Te Puke town-scale syntropic food forest — subtropical stacking, biomass cycles, and community kai on the ground.
Troppo.nz Book a tourGrow Te Puke
Community orchard, crop swap, and kai resilience demos — seed-to-table abundance for every backyard.
Grow Te PukeFood Forests NZ community
Hundreds of growers from Kaitaia to Invercargill — Facebook group, workshops, and regional plant swaps.
Food Forests NZRegenos · interactive regenerative ag
Hands-on learning experiences connecting syntropic practice with on-the-ground regenerative agriculture.
Regenos.appHow the Troppo tools nest together
Science & movement
Grounded in FAO’s 10 Elements of Agroecology, Miguel Altieri’s agroecological principles, Stephen Gliessman’s transition framework, and Aotearoa-specific practice through Food Forests NZ, Kai Resilience, and MÄtauranga Māori. Permaculture (Mollison/Holmgren) and syntropic farming (Götsch) are expressions of agroecology — not replacements for it. References are cited as text tags throughout; always verify cultural and medical information with qualified practitioners.
Diversity & synergies
Polycultures, guilds, habitat
Recycling & soil
Nutrient loops, biomass, fertility
Co-creation
Grower knowledge, open tools
Culture & kai
Traditions, access, sovereignty
Practices in the Troppo ecosystem
Filter by dimension or Kai Resilience focus.
-- practices
| Practice | Dimension | Principles | Kai Resilience focus | Description | Tool / link | References |
|---|
Species & kai roles
Plants mapped to agroecological principles and Kai Resilience outcomes.
-- plants
| Common name | Scientific name | Layer | Principles | Kai focus | System | Agroecological role | References | Notes |
|---|
Related: Vector Group Charitable Trust · Kai Resilience programme · kairesilience.food · Troppo food forest · Grow Te Puke · Te Puke Digital · Kiwifruit Capital · Regenos · Permaculture · Syntropic · Rongōā