Where is New Zealand headed?

Professor Paul J Moughan

Innovation in the agri-food industry is the key to lifting New Zealand's economic prosperity, writes Professor Paul J Moughan

New Zealand has an inspiring history of innovation in food and agriculture, the nation's most important economic sector.

In its time, such innovation helped to make New Zealand one of the wealthiest countries in the world. I believe that the potential exists, once again, to lift our economic prosperity up the world rankings on the back of innovation around food. There has never been a better opportunity for this than right now, when the drivers of world population growth, a burgeoning middle-class, changing attitudes to food, and scientific advances are converging to the advantage of nations such as ours.

New Zealand's agri-food industry builds off the nation's comparative advantages. This is an industry where New Zealand has scale and is a leader. We have outstanding natural advantages for energy-efficient, high-quality agriculture. We also have a strong track record, in farming and in agricultural food and related sciences. Year-on-year there has been substantial productivity growth in our primary production sector, outstripping other sectors of the New Zealand economy.

But we cannot afford to be complacent. We are no longer the world's lowest-cost pastoral producer. Further, currently we are not fully embracing the great opportunities to innovate that present around areas such as precision agriculture, traceability, robotics, biosecurity, the new genetics, sustainable production, aquaculture, nutraceuticals, premium-quality foods and personalised foods. The world is witnessing a biological revolution with amazing advances in areas such as genetics, cell biology, molecular biology, nanotechnology, information technology and food science.

The next 50 years offers New Zealand great opportunities for supplying food and especially protein to the world. In particular New Zealand needs to increase value, not just volume, and its agriculture needs to be sustainable and environmentally aware.

Are we up to the challenge? Do we have an overarching national strategy in agriculture and food? Do we have a platform where government, industry and science work together to plan a pathway forward? Do our science priorities reflect a need for a profound focus on food and primary production? Do we understand the needs of the future consumer, tomorrow's customer?

The Asian middle class, for example, comprises 500 million people but is forecast to grow to 3 billion in the next three decades. How well do we understand this market? How are others addressing this new world order?

Denmark has quadrupled its food exports in the decade to 2011. The country has encouraged agri-food clustering and centralised much of its agricultural and food science activities around Aarhus University and its associated Agro Food Park.

In Ireland, strategic planning in agriculture and food (Food Harvest 2020) is front and centre. In the Netherlands, a country the size of Hawke's Bay yet the world's second largest food exporter, agri-food initiatives are identified as two out of the nine 'top sectors' for science.

Top teams, comprising a scientist, senior government official, an SME entrepreneur and a 'standard-bearer' leader, have been created for each key sector and inform both government and industry. Long ago the Netherlands brought together the bulk of its university and government research and teaching in agri-foods, into one centre of true critical mass and excellence, Wageningen University and Research Centres. These are our competitors and they are restructuring, strategising and planning for the future.

In New Zealand we are getting many things right. We have the Primary Growth Partnership, the High Value Nutrition National Science Challenge, the Riddet Institute Centre of Research Excellence for innovation in foods, the New Zealand Food Innovation Network, Manawatu's FoodHQ and the Lincoln Hub.

However, we need to be more integrated, more strategic and more innovative. We need to focus.

As this article went to press the Riddet Institute, New Zealand's only Centre of Research Excellence devoted to food, heard from the Government that its CoRE funding was under threat. This is despite unparalleled excellence in its field. Do we have our priorities right?