The report, The future of food and the primary sector: The journey to sustainability, said NZ should capitalise on its relatively covid-free international reputation by positioning itself as a leading food producer and develop a national brand reflecting its values and culture.
It was written by Dr Anne Bardsley, Bridget Coates, Dr Stephen Goldson, Professor Sir Peter Gluckman and Professor Matthias Kaiser and produced by Koi Tu: The Centre for Informed Futures, a think tank and research centre at Auckland University through a series of conversations with some of the most senior and experienced food industry leaders and scientists.
Koi Tu director Gluckman said NZ has to make decisions about what aspects of science and technology to adapt that could dramatically change agriculture and food production systems.
Non-animal foods replacing meat and milk using advanced technologies are also rapidly emerging.
In taking a proactive approach emphasising the qualities of sustainable, low-carbon dairy production, agriculture, horticulture, fisheries and aquaculture NZ could become a global thought leader in sustainability across the entire food system.
He believes it is critical government agencies take a coordinated partnership approach with scientists, producers and manufacturers to support and encourage the food and production industries’ journey to a resilient future.
“It needs to be much better integrated. It needs to have a long term view. I think much of what has happened in the sector, to be honest, in the past decade has been very short term.”
Consumer preferences are going to change. Climate change will drive food production changes and the industry has to start thinking now about a more connected view of the food production system, he said.
The industry risks continuing to waddle along without being as strategically valuable to NZ as it could be if it does not address these challenges, he said.
While it is everybody’s role to drive this, ultimately it is the Government’s responsibility.
“We should, in a small country, work out a way to coordinate between the different silos.”
The country’s three-year election cycle does not encourage long-term thinking on these issues, he said.
“We need a process that is not going to get caught up in normative partisan politics of day-to-day and move this with some expedition.
“There’s lots of issues out there that need to be thought through and we keep putting them into the too-hard basket of the political cycle.
“We have to start thinking that water distribution in NZ is going to be very different in 20 years’ time because of climate change. We have to be thinking now of what technologies we use and don’t use, what technologies can help us win the battle of producing food which is sustainable.
“These are hard issues and we need a joined-up approach.”
The report calls on the food sector to be a values-based industry reflecting growing consumer demand for high-quality food and interest in food’s provenance and attributes such as safety, nutritional value, animal welfare, carbon footprint and environmental protection.
Koi Tu deputy-director Bardsley said many farmers and producers are already shifting to position themselves for a future based on the values of sustainability, resilience and kaitiakitanga or guardianship.
“What food will NZ produce in 30 years’ time?
“The common assertion that our food production is a mature industry is wrong.
“There are major opportunities to advance the sector but a more strategic approach to research and development is needed.”
