Global Plant Protection News

How do we feed our growing population?

Jacqueline Rowarth05:00, Oct 27 2021

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The Detail: The sky-high cost of living in New Zealand

The Detail explores what makes our food so pricey when we produce enough to feed 40 million people.

There are also more than 350 restaurants, cafés and fast-food outlets involved – and the restaurant and ready-to-eat-food prices increased 4.6 per cent. Further, 30 per cent of the food budget is now spent on convenience, despite lockdown and the perceived focus on home cooking.

For the farmer, this means that more of what consumers spend is on processing and preparation, rather than on the basic food they have produced.

The New Zealand Institute of Economic Research analysed the farm share of retail prices in 2019. Approximately 31 per cent of every dollar spent on meat returned to the farm, 19 per cent of dairy dollars, 22 per cent of grain dollars, 10 per cent of fruit, 16 per cent of vegetables and 2 per cent of the egg dollar.

Not much, really.

And farmers are consumers – so they have been hit by inflation like every other business. In the last quarter, prices paid by farmers have increased 5.9 per cent. Prices received were certainly up 4 per cent, but that hasn’t covered the increase in costs of fertiliser, fuel, electricity and wages.

Even more of a shock might be that what is being experienced in New Zealand in terms of increased food prices is nothing in comparison with that being experienced in the world. The FAO food price index has increased 32.8 per cent from September 2020 – food prices globally have increased by a third in a year.

Uncertainty in harvest due to Covid-19, fire, drought and flood, as well as demand, have combined to stimulate inflation not seen since 2011. Food accessibility (available and affordable) is an issue globally.

Ever-cheaper food, though an expectation in developed countries, is likely to be a thing of the past as farmers try to manage improved productivity (more food with reduced inputs) within the uncertainties of a changing environment – due to both the climate and regulation.

The problem with the latter is that regulations are not always made with an understanding of the consequences.View the dashboard Tracking the speed of the economy

On April 29, the Sri Lankan Cabinet approved a ban on importation of chemical fertilisers and other agrochemicals in a bid to become the first country to practise organic-only agriculture. Less than six months later and the government has backed down. Yields and quality of tea crashed.

Despite well-meaning belief, there was insufficient organic fertiliser available for the tea plantations. And with lower yields and quality, tea prices increased, meaning local tea drinkers were as unhappy as the growers.

In the European Union, Farm Europe (a think tank) has calculated that the new farm to fork strategy will have significant impact on food supply, and hence food prices. The strategy recommends reducing the use of chemical pesticides by 50 per cent and fertilisers by 20 per cent, setting aside of at least 10 per cent of agricultural area under high-diversity landscape features and putting at least 25 per cent under organic farming.

The estimated result will be a reduction in food supply by 10 to 15 per cent in the key sectors of cereals, oilseeds, beef, dairy cows; over 15 per cent in pork and poultry; and over 5 per cent in vegetables and permanent crops. There will be an increase in prices by 17 per cent and little to no increase in biodiversity or ecological benefits.

Increasingly, research is showing that our best chance of preserving biodiversity and achieving ecological benefits is to ensure productivity gains on existing agricultural area. This will avoid needing more area to compensate – deforestation being the most obvious detrimental effect. The big differences in biodiversity are between natural and managed ecosystems, not within different types of management (organic versus conventional, for instance).Get the latest small business updates, straight to your inboxSubscribe for free 

While the wealthy countries develop new technologies to assist the challenge of meeting the nutritional needs of an ever-increasing global population from current agricultural land, work is vital with the less developed countries to help them achieve higher yields – to overcome what is known as the yield gap.

Better soil management, improved genetics and matching inputs with plant and animal needs (including health and welfare) is key. So is harvesting, processing, storage and distribution to reduce waste.

New Zealand farmers already hold global records in yield (grain) and low GHG (meat and milk). They are also leaders in precision agriculture. Food here is produced without the subsidies common in other countries. Removal of technological tools will increase prices to the consumer as already calculated for the EU.

For good policy to be developed, all the different consequences need evaluation. Research is showing the way.

– Dr Jacqueline Rowarth, Adjunct Professor Lincoln University, is a farmer-elected director of DairyNZ and Ravensdown. The analysis and conclusions above are her own. Contact her at jsrowarth@gmail.com.