Agribusiness Australia sets new $201 billion target for 2030
Australian agribusiness wants farmers and those in food manufacturing to unite behind a plan to grow the sector into a $201 billion behemoth.
AUSTRALIAN agribusiness believes the nation’s food and agribusiness sector could be worth more than $200 billion by 2030 and underpin a national COVID-19 recovery if it moves beyond “uncoordinated commodity groupings” and focuses instead on value-added opportunities.
A new Food and Agribusiness Growth Centre report, due to be released today, has identified 19 growth opportunities that would secure a more than doubling of the sector’s value within 10 years.
Australia’s food and agribusiness sector is currently valued at $61.3 billion in terms of value-added opportunity, according to the Alpha Beta report, but by 2030 it could be $201 billion – more than double previous estimates, including that of the National Farmers Federation and Federal Government – if a co-ordinated plan is pursed across the value chain that takes a value-added approach rather than focusing on pre-farm gate potential.
Australian Agribusiness president and Elders chief executive Mark Allison said the economic and geopolitical climate was the perfect catalyst for action.
“Given the sector’s current labour shortage and demographics, significant effort, co-ordination and focused investment will be required to retain and retrain existing employees, and attract new entrants to the sector. It’s time we get on with making this happen,” Mr Allison said.
“By investing in Australia’s food manufacturing capacity and increasing post-farm gate value-add and exports, we can share the spoils across the food and agribusiness sector.”
The growth opportunities identified in the report fall under four themes; the future consumer, food security and sustainability, enhanced production and value-adding and a global market place.
It said farmers and those in the food manufacturing supply chain need to focus on feeding the growing and ageing population with functional and nutritional foods, protecting Australia’s economy from climate change and pests and diseases and use better genetics to optimise efficiencies, minimise waste and produce highly differentiated, value-added foods.
The report said securing the potential of the sector is not a foregone conclusion. To fulfil this potential market size the sector needs to operating differently, including moving beyond fragmented commodity groups.
The areas with the biggest growth potential to ensure the sector reached the $201 billion target were sustainable packaging and inputs, precision agriculture and big data and increased technology in smallholder farms.
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