Integrate agri into high-school studies
A New Zealand representative at the recent Youth Ag-Summit in Brussels is arguing for agriculture to be properly integrated into the secondary school curriculum.
Hampton has a double-major degree in environmental science and agribusiness. She works for the NZ Environmental Protection Authority and has a passion for science, agriculture and the environment. She was a speaker on the recent teachers’ agri experience tour co-sponsored by Rural News Group
She says the challenge is how to increase productivity in countries with less sophisticated agricultural systems so they can feed more people.
“They face resource constraints – I mean infrastructure, fertilisers, water and knowledge,” she told Rural News. “The question is how to increase production in these countries in a way that is sustainable for them.”
This may require looking at new technologies which may be unacceptable in New Zealand. But for other countries the use of such approaches may be the difference between life and death.
NZ does not have the same food security issues as other countries and we must recognise the needs of other people, Hampton says. This relates to another issue raised at the summit – one that she feels strongly about – that of science and society and the need for better communication and public engagement.
“Policies must be evidence- and science-based, but also take into account people’s values and what society wants, including regulations that are scientifically defensible.”
Hampton says summit attendees came to her and praised NZ’s ‘agricultural credentials’, in particular the fact that our farmers are not subsidised like those in Europe. She says in some European countries farmers appear to protected more for the romance they contribute to the country than their productive capacity.
Hampton was impressed with Ireland’s Origin Green campaign which she says is a smart marketing tool.
