Australia’s agricultural and food industries risk losing their competitive edge. The paper argues that by leveraging its strong foundations, Australia’s food industry has the potential to become a second engine of economic growth that mirrors the resources sector. 

Inspired by successful strategies in countries like Singapore, New Zealand, Denmark, and the Netherlands, the paper presents a set of recommendations to propel Australia towards its food superpower goal. The authors stress the importance of collaboration across the value chain and between the public and private sectors to realise this vision.

Recommendations

1. Build programs to be offered by valuechain partners to support farmers, producers and graziers with upfront transition costs associated with accelerated adoption of climate-smart practice.
2.  Construct a patient capital funding scheme to address the financial challenges associated with the timing of benefit realisation as they transition.
3. Develop and implement tax incentives to accelerate the adoption of additional climate-smart practices and decarbonisation initiatives.
4. Create a single national open-source framework for climate and sustainability requirements.
5. Design a robust verification and certification process that builds trust and differentiates Australian produce and food products in global markets.
6. Build a platform to facilitate efficient and consistent data collation and sharing for natural capital, greenhouse gas emissions and product traceability.
7.  Improve supply chain resilience and food security to enhance sovereign capability.
8.  Invest in food and input manufacturing precincts and scale innovation centres to accelerate circular economy models.
9. Strengthen competitive positioning in key export markets, and diversify beyond food products into intellectual property, bio- and agriculture technologies.
10. Create a digital platform that provides food exporters with a cohesive, fact-based brand narrative.