Forming a ‘coalition of the willing’ – those who want to work together to get further up the value chain – is more important than forming a new Agri-Food Board, says meat industry commentator Allan Barber.
In an item published online last week on interest.co.nz, he writes that although the proposed Agri-Board will be discussed at the forthcoming agri-food chief executives’ Boot Camp at Stanford University, “it is unlikely to be the main thrust of the gathering, which is intended to generate alignment an co-operation between and within agri-foods sectors.”
While there is “much logic and common sense” in the recent Riddet Institute’s report Call to Arms, calling for a trebling of agri-foods turnover, there is “nagging suspicion that it is just another strategy document, which, despite its stated intentions, will not result in a significant shift in behaviour,” he says.
He suspects that among the Boot Camp participants there will be many of those people who would be expected to be on an Agri-Foods board. “However, they will be too busy getting on with translating ideas into action to have time to worry about joining another board.”
