New Zealand agricultural commodity prices have historically been highly variable given our reliance on global markets. When prices are high, industries have expanded without national caps for production regardless of biogeophysical constraints of production. When prices are low farmers and their families have suffered. We must have mechanisms in place to ensure food supply is steady and farmers are financially protected when commodity prices are low. Likewise, when prices in an industry are high, we must have national stocking caps and limit expansion based on what Aotearoa can sustainably provide.

Farmers should be rewarded for practices where they lower eutrophication, sequester carbon and improve biodiversity, and also have to pay for environmental damage. There needs to be greater incentive for farmers to restore and maintain biodiversity on farms. Tokenizing biodiversity or biobanking would see greater value placed on biodiversity and native planting. Marketplaces for ecosystem services and environmental externalities should therefore be encouraged.

There is relatively good support for agri-tech startups in New Zealand through programme like the Food and Fibre Challenge 27. However, it is difficult to receive funding for initiatives like local community gardens. Financing meaningful community agricultural initiatives remains a key roadblock in allowing ingenuity to flourish across New Zealand. Additionally, agricultural research grants must foster collaboration, be open to a diverse range of applicants, and produce open source outputs where possible.

What would this look like in reality?

● Novel financing models are developed that enable new forms of investment into on farm innovation and land use transformations.

● Debt is mitigated so it does not prevent transitions to more sustainable farming practices.

● Creation of investment pathways to finance and support uptake of nature-based solutions.

Future farmers believe in free trade and therefore support the removal of tariffs. Where externalities exist on harmful imports they should be taxed at the sale. For example a tax on the sale of polluting items like plastic products. The state must integrate all reasonable externalities into market transactions to ensure an efficient economy. By using a ‘psuedo price’ to incorporate externalities into business transaction costs we could eliminate overconsumption of resources. While the limitations of pseudo prices must be acknowledged, this is key in managing the impact of externalities. Even in a free market the government has a significant role to play in pricing externalities, the failure of which has contributed to global environmental catastrophe.

What would this look like in reality?

● The true cost and benefit of externalities from farming must be included in transaction costs where it is reasonable to pseudo price them. Institutional guidance may be needed to transition less efficient farms, and in industries where farms are oversupplied, to new land use. New Zealand should be prepared for a brave conversation on our national stocking rates.

● Free trade agreements where they support efficiency increase and healthy competition are to be encouraged.

● Local communities should receive fair value from supply chains.

New Zealand has depleted significant amounts of natural capital to bolster our GDP.While it appears we have become richer with GPD and exports rising, currently we do not account for social and natural capital. Therefore, we cannot know the true value of our country's wealth. Natural capital is finite in size but other stocks , such as social and intellectual capital, are not. To take into account the true value of our country we must measure all capital in New Zealand via the integrated reporting accounting framework. Adopting this framework would incentivise New Zealand to withdraw from finite stocks like natural capital at a sustainable rate. Additionally, value would be placed on restoration of ecosystems as this improves the value of our natural capital. This would also prevent the loss of productive soils to land development in locations such as south Auckland.

What would this look like in reality?

● National integrated accounting framework is adopted to account for natural capital accounts.

● Annual budget reports on natural and social capital measurements such as biodiversity, water quality and climate regulation.