Overnight, I was delighted and honoured to be presented with the first ever Agritech NZ Lifetime Achievement Award at New Zealand’s Parliament.
In the very best Oscar tradition, Jacqui and I were unfortunately unable to attend in person. We are currently in the UK, midway through a 3-month tour of key offshore agritech markets, promoting the Global Biological Accelerator we are building with our US-based partners, Western Growers.
When Jacqui and I began to develop the Agritech New Zealand model back in 2016, we could not really have envisaged just how significant it would become. By bringing together industry, research & government, it set a gold standard for sector development that is now being copied around the world.
The organisation’s launch in 2018 would not have been possible without the support of some key New Zealand stakeholders. I have to commend the significant contribution made by some of our earliest supporters. Dion Cawood, Rob Heebink, Kevin Cooney, Simon Yarrow, Jason Reeves, Graeme Muller, Evelyn Seewald & David Walker.
For Jacqui and myself, the formal launch of the Agritech Industry Transformation Plan in July 2020 with Ministers Damien OConnor & Phil Twyford at Zespri International was a key milestone for both the organisation and the sector. Hat doffed to our key NZ government agency collaborators, David Downs & Arek ‘The Great’ for helping make this happen.
The other key milestone in 2020 was the successful merger of Agritech New Zealand and the Precision Agriculture Association of New Zealand. It created a single entity to advance the growth and development of the country’s AgriFoodTech sector.
Today, Agritech NZ is ably led Brendan O’Connell, Kylie Horomia, Bridgit Hawkins and the Agritech NZ Executive Committee. I can honestly say that the universal feedback I receive from offshore partners, is that New Zealand remains the Gold Standard for agritech ecosystem development. I believe it provides a significant platform for the organisation to take a global leadership role in addressing some of the key challenges facing farmers and growers both at home and worldwide.
Last night’s award was hugely appreciated by Jacqui and myself. Kudos to everyone involved in the development of New Zealand’s agritech sector. Our role is now to support that message in global markets and build not only New Zealand’s but also the wider trans-Tasman region’s offshore profile.
Together, we can make this happen!