The success of New Zealand’s food and fibre sector will rely on a larger, better skilled workforce.
Addressing a seminar facilitated by B.linc at Lincoln University, Ministry for Primary Industries principal adviser for the primary sector workforce policy team Richard Lynch said while the food and fibre sector is critical to NZ’s future, several key actions need to be a focus going forward.
These include lifting productivity and export demand, investing more in technology to augment labour and free up people to do more highly valued roles, and upskilling the existing workforce.
Formal education will be particularly important for developing future skills to attract new workers with a different skill profile, some of whom will be in high demand in other sectors.
The food and fibre sector is diverse and sophisticated in its responses to global market and environmental forces and, given the wide variety of products and opportunities across the sector, the rapid growth of precision farming technologies, artificial intelligence, automation, and the multitude of different roles needed, the agricultural workforce needs to keep pace.
As NZ firms embrace innovation and new technology to enhance their profitability and productivity, the workforce will adapt, Lynch said.
This will involve combining traditional agricultural knowledge with cutting-edge technologies to build a resilient and sustainable future for the food and fibre sector, with people fundamental to its success.
Continuous education and training will play a crucial role in preparing the workforce for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
The MPI understands the changes that the food and fibre sector is facing.
“We also know that the NZ population is both aging and becoming more urbanised.”
To meet the challenges and opportunities of today, and tomorrow, the industry needs to attract, retain, and upskill people from diverse backgrounds who bring extra capabilities to the sector.
Recently, the MPI took a closer look at how various parts of the food and fibre workforce have changed.
“The sector is dynamic and is rapidly transforming in response to economic and environmental factors and changes in knowledge and technology.
“The workforce is equally dynamic, and labour and skills will need to change over time.
“Preparing for these changes will take investment and time,” Lynch said.
Work to understand the workforce has been undertaken in close partnership with industry and cross sectors, and the government.
“While there are many ways to count who is working in the food and fibre sector, we use monthly numbers as labour demand and seasonal peaks can be estimated.”
For roles and skills, the work uses three categories: managers and highly skilled, semi-autonomous skilled, and managed or frontline semi-skilled.
Currently there are about 360,000 people working across the food and fibre sector with the workforce having grown over the past decade from 328,000.
About half of the workforce is in production: on farms, on orchards, in forests or on the water, while the remaining workforce are in roles beyond the farmgate in manufacturing and processing.
About 60% of the workforce are in skilled or higher skilled roles and two thirds of the workforce is male.
Seasonality drives large fluctuations, with migrants on average 18% of the horticultural sector’s workforce compared with migrant labour representing 3% of red meat and wool and 11% dairy farming.
“Forecasting is important to help understand what actions we need to undertake to ensure we have the workforce we need.
“Modelling suggests that employment in the food and fibre sector could increase between 8% and 16% from the 2020 base to 2032.”
Lynch said it is more important to understand the direction of travel and the factors that drive this, rather than focusing on exact numbers.
Technology is a positive story.
“Technology will create employment in the sector. As technology is introduced and demand increases, it improves the efficiency and effectiveness of operations, increasing labour demand.
“There is a bright future for the food and fibre sector.
“Our industry is a huge resource. The key is how do we lift labour productivity.
“To continue to be successful we will need a larger more highly skilled workforce.”
