Roadmap set to double hort exports by 2035

That was one of the key messages at the recent HortNZ conference held in Wellington. The event was attended by more than 800 people, including some who attended a special conference on the RSE scheme which ran in tandem with the main conference.

At the horticulture conference, the Associate Minister of Agriculture with special responsibility for horticulture, Nicola Grigg, unveiled a ‘roadmap’ designed to build on the high-level plan to achieve the 2035 target.

The plan focuses on five pillars: growing sustainability, optimising value, ensuring that Māori are strong in horticulture, making the best use of science and nurturing people and businesses.

Grigg says the new roadmap will help drive the ongoing success of Kiwi growers. She says it includes practical actions that build on work to boost growth and resilience.

“Key to the success of the roadmap will be collective input and support from industry, government, Māori, and research providers,” she says.

Grigg says in some ways this is easier said than done given the vast number of grower groups there are across horticulture. She says such fragmentation is nobody’s fault but rather part of the way the sector has evolved with multiple growing opportunities.

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“But it’s going to take strong leadership across all of those grower groups to come together and drive this thing forward and it would be a shame if people didn’t get involved,” she says.

Grigg says the new initiative will be industry driven and the only roles that government will play is to create an environment that enables it to happen. She points to government priorities in relation to the RMA reforms - things such as better access to water, making vegetable growing a permitted activity and reviewing freshwater farm plans.

“It’ll be our role to create the legislative environment for this to happen and create frameworks that allow provision for special agricultural areas where food production can take place,” she says.

HortNZ CEO Backs Collaboration

HortNZ CEO Kate Scott says that under the project, no group is being asked to give up their independence. She says the objective of the Aotearoa Horticulture Action Plan (AHAP) is about finding a pathway for people to come together more often for the betterment of the whole sector, rather than just focusing entirely on their individual interests.

Scott says this is not about creating a combined voice to deal with government simply because of the diverse nature of the sector. She points out the classic example, that product groups are involved in market access and also R&D, whereas HortNZ isn’t, but she adds that there is still a great deal of synergy across the sector.

HortNZ chief executive Kate Scott

“The principle behind AHAP is that it’s everyone for everyone and is not owned by a particular entity. So, the main partners are industry, government, Māori and our science partners. It’s not a structural thing, rather it’s an aspirational goal that delivers better outcomes for growers,” she says.

Scott says in her time in the role as CEO of HortNZ she’s seen a huge amount of collaboration within the sector and the plan is to build on this to increase horticulture exports, which in the past year were $8.4 billion, predicted to rise to $9.8 billion by 2029.

Having more than 800 people at the two conferences was a milestone for the sector. Scott says she hasn’t been to such a large primary sector conference in a long time and says it shows the energy and enthusiasm and positivity of a sector that’s doing well and is predicted to do well in the future. But she adds that for NZ to prosper, it also needs strong dairy and meat and fibre sectors.

New Board

During the main conference, time was set aside for the annual general meeting of HortNZ which sees three new directors join the organisation – Simon Cook, Dermott Malley and Shaun Vickers.

Board chair Bernadine Guilleux says her objective is to bring the new group together and develop a team culture that will set the tone for the strategy of the organisation.

Given the challenges and uncertainty facing global trade, Guilleux says one thing they will be watching carefully is macro-economic trends, especially around the issue of health. She says that is something that the sector is so well aligned to – providing high quality healthy food for consumers both domestically and internationally.

She says the other thing that needs doing is to continue to articulate to the local community, in particular the way the sector grows its produce.

“Our practices are not hidden - they are in plain sight in our fields and orchards and that is something we need be really conscious of,” she says.

Guilleux says among the issues facing the board will be land use and achieving high productivity from this, and also unlocking small amounts of land.