ARGOS publications

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The Agricultural Research Group on Sustainability (ARGOS) is an unincorporated joint venture between the Agribusiness Group, Lincoln University, and the University of Otago. ARGOS has a mandate to examine the environmental, social and economic sustainability of New Zealand farming systems.

Recent Submissions

Now showing 1 - 5 of 52
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    The impact of neoliberalism on New Zealand farmers: Changing what it means to be a 'good farmer'
    (Australasia-Pacific Extension Network (APEN), 2013) Hunt, Lesley M.; Rosin, Christopher; Campbell, H.; Fairweather, John R.
    A recent part of the transdisciplinary study of New Zealand farming carried out by social scientists from the Agriculture Research Group on Sustainability (ARGOS) was a retrospective interview of all ARGOS sheep/beef, dairy and high country farmers and kiwifruit orchardists. In this interview their responses to 'shocks' over the past forty years was explored in order to examine farmer resilience and pathways to sustainability. What was apparent was how the 'good farming' model followed by New Zealand farmers and orchardists had expanded to include the notion that it was culturally acceptable to think of farming as a business. This change, which could be attributed to the influence of the environment of neoliberalism in the policies of the New Zealand government since the 1980s, allowed farmers and orchardists to think of themselves and their role in new ways that provided unexpectedand exciting possibilities for the resilience and sustainability of the agricultural and horticultural sectors in New Zealand. This paper describes some of the unexpected consequences of Government policy, showing how long it can take for policy to result in identity change and how closely identity is linked to practice.
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    Sustainability Trends in Key Overseas Markets to New Zealand and the KPI identification database
    (ARGOS, 2013-06-28) Saunders, Caroline M.; Guenther, Meike; Driver, Tim
    This report examines trends in consumer concerns regarding sustainability in key overseas markets for New Zealand. These trends affect what consumers buy and the premiums they will pay. The implications of these for New Zealand are explored in this report. The report also extends to other issues that may have potential to impact on our exports. This report is part of a series of research reports1 concerning these issues. Each report focuses on slightly different issues. This report concentrates on consumer attitudes towards sustainability attributes such as carbon emissions, biodiversity and animal welfare in traditional export markets to New Zealand including the UK, Japan, the US but also in emerging export markets such as China and India. In addition, a database reporting on key performance measures included in key market assurance and good practice schemes, as well as regulatory frameworks, was developed in this report.
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    Carrying on farming: how New Zealand’s sheep/beef farmers continue to farm
    (Agriculture Research Group on Sustainability, 2013-12) Hunt, Lesley M.
    Presentation covers: pathways to sustainability – analysis of transdisciplinary data, 5 pathways followed by farmers, overall strategies of ‘survival’, and 'what is a sustainable landscape?'
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    The impact of neoliberalism on New Zealand farmers: changing what it means to be a ‘good farmer'
    (Agriculture Research Group on Sustainability, 2013-08) Hunt, Lesley M.; Rosin, C.; Campbell, H.; Fairweather, John R.
    Presentation covers: Agricultural reform - New Zealand government policy - neo-liberalism, ARGOS – source of evidence, farming as a business – evidence of change, and unexpected consequences.
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    He Whenua Whakatipu: a draft sustainable development framework for Ngai Tahu landholders
    (Agriculture Research Group on Sustainability, 2005-02) Reid, John
    This paper outlines a draft sustainable development framework for Ngai Tahulandholders. The notion of sustainable development, by its very nature, isproblematic. This is because there are so many criteria by which the development orgrowth of an entity through time can be assessed. For example there are multipleperspectives from various academic disciplines to be taken into account, as well asthose embedded within traditional values and knowledge at a flax-roots level. Thispaper attempts to take account of this complexity through the development of asustainable development planning process, which attempts to formulate courses ofaction that are well-informed by specialists from various academic disciplines, as wellas by knowledge from within flax-roots Maori communities.Initially this paper provides a literature review regarding current Maori sustainablelanduse research within Aotearoa, in the attempt to encapsulate the ‘complexity’ ofthe issue at hand. Although this body of research provides important insightsregarding the sustainable development of Maori land, it has a number of limitations,which are critically highlighted within this paper. From this literature review thesustainable development planning processes is developed. Further a conceptualsustainable land development model is offered, which provides a ‘yardstick’ fromwhich sustainable landuse can be monitored. This model however must be considereda work in progress open to continuous and ongoing revision.The overall purpose of this sustainable development framework is threefold. First it isa basis from which Maori landholders, including private, corporate and communal,can plan the development of their whenua. Second it is a basis from whichlandholders can derive, maintain and enhance cultural benefits from their whenua,from social, economic and environmental perspectives. Third, it is a foundation fromwhich a monitoring framework can be developed to assess the performance of landmanagement practices across a range of indices, including; social, economic,ecological and cultural criteria.