6 June 2014 New Zealand's specialist land-based university can help meet New Zealand's needs

Today the Ministry for Primary Industries released its ‘Future capability needs for the primary industries in NZ' report.  The findings in this report are welcome news to the country’s specialist land-based university.

“Lincoln is New Zealand’s specialist land-based university and we have been taking great steps recently to ensure we can continue to deliver graduates for industry within the land-based sectors now, but also well into the future.  This report suggests that there will be an increasing demand for the skills that Lincoln teaches within the short, medium and long term,” says Jeremy Baker, Assistant Vice-Chancellor (Business Development) at Lincoln University.

“Of particular interest to the University are the findings around the potential for increased demand for highly skilled (degree or higher) workers in the sector.  These are not just on the land but well beyond the ‘farm gate’ and into a wide range of support services where specialist knowledge is required.”

Within the report there is reference to modelling that ‘suggests there is an increasing demand for more people in occupations with higher qualifications, especially for professional degrees in fields of specialisation aligned with the value chain, including areas such as integrated farms systems. It is also very clear that (we) need to increase the skill level across the board. This means that even roles that have traditionally not required formal qualifications will increasingly need greater skills and an increased demand for on-the-job and professional training.’  The report also notes that successful implementation of the primary industries strategies is ‘likely to increase demand for highly skilled (degree or higher) workers especially in support services………especially as primary production and processing becomes more sophisticated and greater value is added beyond the farm gate all the way to the consumer.’

“While this is good news for Lincoln and our graduates, this is also good news for the wider economy and workforce.  The current primary industry strategies, if successfully implemented, have the potential to significantly expand employment within the primary industries by ‘a further 33,000 to 403,000 by 2025.’  This is up from the current 350,000 – which already equates to 16% of the total New Zealand workforce,” adds Mr Baker.

The fact that the Ministry has expanded its view of the primary sector to include production, processing, value chain and support is also welcomed by the specialist university. “There has long been a perception that the primary industries are agriculture.  Yes, it is agriculture, but the primary sector is also so much more than this, and the entire value chain needs to be operating optimally for the sector to see increased growth.  The University is very excited to see this report acknowledging the breadth of employment opportunities for New Zealanders in this sector – something we have been actively promoting ourselves.  The very fact that New Zealand has a specialist land-based university is testament to the importance of this sector still for New Zealand – and the Ministry’s report has reinforced its relevance.”