2024 Investment Advice
Muka Tangata provides advice to TEC on investment in vocational education to influence funding decisions that considers industry needs, to help match skills and workforce demands with supply.
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$53.1bnFood and Fibre sector Export Revenue year to June 2022 (MPI)
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13%of New Zealand’s workforce was employed in Food and Fibre sector in year ending March 2020, (Stats NZ, MPI)
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16%of the Muka Tangata industries workforce were Māori in 2020 (Stats NZ IDI)
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81.4%Food and Fibre sector contribution to National Export Trade in year to June 2022 (Stats NZ, MPI)
Overview
Muka Tangata is the Workforce Development Council (WDC) for People, Food and Fibre – we work on ways to enhance vocational education and training to meet industry needs. We represent 14 industries including: dairy; sheep, beef, deer, and wool; poultry, pigs, and other livestock farming; arable farming; vegetables and fruit growing; viticulture and winemaking; forestry; seafood; apiculture; equine, greyhounds and racing; veterinary; nursery, turf and gardening; and food and fibre support industries.
The food and fibre sector is an important part of Aotearoa New Zealand’s economy and comprises a significant portion of the workforce, with 13% of New Zealand’s workforce employed in food and fibre in the year ending March 2020 (Stats NZ, MPI), and 16% of the Muka Tangata industries workforce identifying as Māori in 2020 (Stats NZ, IDI). More recently the sector has also become an integral part of the country’s recovery from COVID-19.
Industries making up the sector have a long history in Aotearoa and have been particularly important in supporting and shaping rural communities. In the year to March 2021, food and fibre accounted for 10.7% of New Zealand’s GDP (Stats NZ, MPI) and contributed $53.1 billion in export revenue for the year ending June 2022 (MPI).
Though COVID-19 immigration restrictions and supply chain issues have been disruptive for the sector, exports have continued to perform strongly – in the year ending June 2020 food and fibre contributed 81.4% to national export trades (Stats NZ, MPI). Furthermore, there are a range of global and national trends and market shifts underway that will have significant impacts on the sector and the skills required by the workforce. For example, while 25 – 34 year olds were the largest age bracket within Muka Tangata industries workforce in 2020 (Stats NZ IDI), this varies greatly across industries, with some employers struggling with an aging workforce – over 40% of the Sheep, Beef, Deer and Wool workforce are 55+ years old.
While our remit focusses primarily on production workforces (except for seafood processing and some support services), understanding the entire food and fibre sector provides valuable context and will help us to understand vocational pathways across the sector.
Trends and Analysis
This section provides information about the workforce, industry and Vocational Education and Training (VET) provision and performance. It shows data and research focused on key aspects of industry groups and learners. Each tile will lead you to Te Mata Raraunga website where you will find an interactive dashboard you can explore data in more detail at the whole sector level and by industry grouping.
Industry
Insights for industry about trends in economic performance indicators.
Workforce
Insights on the workforce, including; size, ethnicity, age, regional distribution, and gender.
Learners and Providers
Insights about learners, including trends in enrolments and mix of provision.
Opportunities
We highlight the current key priorities and opportunities for each industry, and links back to the supporting evidence base to show why they have been selected as a priority. These opportunities will be updated on an ongoing basis as our understanding of the industry evolves and deepens.
Delivery and Assessment | All People, Food and Fibre
Attraction and Retention | All People, Food and Fibre
Non-Formal Learning | All People, Food and Fibre
Support Industry | All People, Food and Fibre
Mental Health and Wellbeing | All People, Food and Fibre
Roadmap
This is our plan to address the opportunities that arose from our engagement, research and analysis. It includes real actions that we are committed to delivering – these are both industry specific and cross-cutting actions across all industries in the food and fibre sector where common themes emerged.
It includes broader areas or dependencies where external parties will need to provide input into solutions with Muka Tangata support; for example, advocacy, engagement, collaboration, and provision of specific expertise or data. We will work in collaboration with those who will need to take the lead in this area. This section will test potential solutions that we’re working on and seek feedback and input into them.
Support the use of more flexible assessment methods
Support learners to succeed
Improve the recognition of existing skills so that learners are not repeating unnecessary training
Explore how vocational education and training can evolve to meet a changing work environment
Support industry efforts to address mental health and wellbeing
Research best practice and suitable models for training
Explore and support appropriate delivery models
Develop meaningful and diverse pathways for ākonga (learners); to attract and retain the food and fibre workforce
Highlights
Attraction and RetentionNon-Formal LearningPathwaysQualificationsSkills
Diversity and Inclusion
Research
Attraction and Retention
Diversity and InclusionPathways
Delivery and Assessment
Attraction and RetentionResearch
Other Analysis
Number of Māori businesses
We estimated the number of Māori-owned businesses within our industry groups as part of building a bigger picture about the involvement of Māori in the sector.
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Visa Status
Workers on visas form an important part of the workforce, filling shortages for skilled workers and seasonal demands.
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