The Chief Executive: Impact of Covid-19: we must work together

Impact of Covid-19: we must work together

The tentacles of Covid-19 are once again impacting on our freedom of movement and our ability to produce healthy food. This is the end that the public and our consumers see.

By Mike Chapman Chief Executive : HortNZ

But what they do not see is the impact Covid-19 is already having when it comes to shipping, seasonal labour, restrictions on growing and packing operations and so on. What neither the government nor the public appear to recognise is that in addition to the health impact, there is the economic impact that comes from all the additional costs that Covid-19 has imposed on industry. This will be made worse by not having enough seasonal labour for harvest and then winter pruning.

What is very apparent is the only way we are collectively as a country going to survive the twin health and economic impacts of Covid-19 is to work together across the whole country. To do this we need a collective vision and strategic direction for government and industry. We need to bridge the gap between what we know we need to do for New Zealand and the government cohesively enabling that. There are already examples of where we work well with government, and as with any working relationship, there is always room for improvement.

Challenges facing horticulture:

There are many challenges facing horticulture in addition to Covid-19 – freshwater and climate change regulation, regulation enabling us to grow healthy food and the long overdue overhaul of the Resource Management Act. If a piecemeal and fragmented approach is taken as we are forced to meet these challenges, we will miss a real opportunity as a sector and as a country to make a real lasting difference. Both with horticulture and government there are many competing factions, all with laudable intentions, but without direction and cohesion they are counteractive and impediments to progress. Even a modicum of co-operation will achieve unbelievable and long-lasting results. There are great examples where we collectively have achieved that – for instance, the career progression manager network. Their achievements in attracting workers and developing careers for our workers are paying huge dividends. This is a prime example of industry and government working together to find employment and careers for New Zealanders.

Building a cohesive and unified approach as we face the current uncertainties and challenges is the only way I think we will be able to continue to feed New Zealand healthy food. The collective horticulture industry groups have already developed a Covid-19 recovery strategy that focuses on our key challenges: labour; production systems and natural resources; data, monitoring and communication; trade, policy and government; diversity and partnerships; and innovation and automation. What we need to do is link these key challenges into a cohesive plan that government supports with its own initiatives and resources. We need the road map of where we are going and how we are to get there. We need to focus on the main activities that will collectively deliver the most impact and results, not only for horticulture but for New Zealand, by engaging and working together with the same goals and values. This is what we will be working on in the coming months – our integrated and collective industry and government plan for the future.