It is time for New Zealand's agribusiness to stand out from the flock and make a united stand
You know agriculture is recognised as the best way for the country to get out of the hole it is in when accountancy firm KPMG starts calling for urban dwellers to gain a better understanding of the rural sector.
The usually “dry as Taihape on a Sunday” (as Barry Crump used to say) business advisory arm of KMPG makes this welcome recommendation – among a raft of other suggestions – in its recently released report on New Zealand’s primary industry Agribusiness Agenda 2011.
Do a quick Google search of farming or agriculture news articles and you will quickly find that negative headlines and stories dominate. While many people and organisations within New Zealand ‘Inc’ realise and understand the importance of the agribusiness and rural sector to the economic well being of our country, many others – especially urban dwellers – do not.
Despite the importance of agribusiness to NZ ‘Inc”, this has not stopped many parts of the sector from coming under sustained and frequent attack by different lobby and/or protests groups. Often many of these attacks are either ill-informed and/or malicious and can do a great deal of damage to New Zealand’s future way of life.
KPMG’s report – based on interviews with more than 80 agribusiness leaders – says this rural/urban gap is a risk to the future development of the country. The interviewees’ had numerous explanations for this disconnect including: an ethnically mixed urban population with little or no family link to farming; mainstream media focussing on negative issues about the agriculture sector such as animal welfare issues and water quality standards in dairy regions.
However, the report also points out that the agricultural sector must foot some of the blame for this divide. It says a lack of openness from the industry has led to urban dwellers to believe they are not getting the full story. This is a fair point; as is its suggestion that the onus must go on the rural sector itself to take the job of educating and informing the rest of the population as to how the industry operates and the economic benefits it generates for the country.
The underlying assertion of Agribusiness Agenda 2011 – although not overtly spelled out in the report – is it’s time for a new, pan-sector lobby group. New Zealand’s agribusiness sector is made up of a wide and diverse group of organisations and lobby groups. Yet despite the sector’s size, resources and undoubted importance to the country’s economic well-being, it is unable to speak as one, with a unified sector voice on matters.
This is mainly due to the different, specific interests of the various bodies that make up NZ agribusiness and a lack of a recognised sector organisation that can speak on all of its behalf. Thus making it almost impossible for a clear, united and unambiguous agribusiness sector view and making it much easier for critics and opponents to pick on different areas.
There is considerable upside in having an independent, unified sector advocate organisation and it is time for the agribusiness sector to seriously look at forming such a body. Such a move would go a long way to help bridge the growing urban/rural gap that currently divides New Zealand.