Lofty ambitions

Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy wants to see a doubling of New Zealand’s primary exports to $60 billion by the year 2025.
Even Guy, himself, concedes this is going to be “a challenge”. As he admits – it is good to have something to aim for.
Guy has reiterated his aim to double New Zealand primary exports a number of times since taking over as Minister back in February. It is also now a stated target of the Ministry for Primary Industries.
But just how realistic is such a lofty goal and how will it be achieved?
According to Guy, the Primary Growth Partnerships (PGP) will be a big part of it. He says over the next seven years, some $650 million will be invested into PGPs – with government meeting 50% and industry putting up the rest.
“What we know is if all these returns are realised from the PGP, it is worth about $7 billion,” he claims. “Each $1 investment – half from industry and half from government – will return about $11 over about seven years.”
Impressive returns if these can be realised!
And speaking of unrealised potential, another of Guy’s aims is to unlock Maori agribusiness capacity in this country. He believes this is possibly worth about $8 billion annually to our economy, according to a recent MPI report.
As an example, Guy cites a small project where soil analysis was done on 240ha of Maori land, which showed some major opportunities for Manuka honey that is very lucrative in China. He says Maori agribusiness has an opportunity to use the New Zealand story for marketing, and work is being done on this by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, Foreign Affairs and MPI.
We have already seen what a potential powerhouse Maori agribusiness could be in the sector via things such as the Ahuwhenua Trophy competition and businesses like Miraka.
$8.8 million has been awarded to the Sustainable Farming Fund for a number of projects that will eventually lift productivity as well, Guy says.
“We know if we can lift the average New Zealand farmers into the top quarter then that’s worth about $3 billion in exports a year. A 1% productivity gain by New Zealand farmers is worth about $4 billion in exports a year. There are huge opportunities…. That links into the Lincoln hub and why we made that announcement, because we believe we can get much greater synergies from having the 900 best scientists in one place working together… fewer silos, more collaboration. There’s early indication the private sector is keen to come in there as well.
“So it’s important when you look at the growth of dairying to have a strong campus in the middle of the South Island. Lincoln University historically has done well and we wanted to ensure its future and viability.
“The important thing to lift productivity will be capability and skills and that’s where the Lincoln hub, Massey and the ITOs like Taratahi play an important role in making sure we can attract our youngest and brightest to primary industries.”