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The intentions of parental financial support for housing in New Zealand: Altruism, obligation, and reciprocity
Full text linkThis study explores what motivates parents to financially support homeownership for their adult children. We apply the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to examine the effects of the identified motivations on their support behaviour. Drawing on data from a representative survey of New Zealand, this study finds that parents’ intentions to provide housing support are motivated primarily by concerns about their children’s challenges in entering the housing market and a deeply altruistic desire to enhance their well-being. Their intention also stems from internalised norms of responsibility and expectations of strengthening family bonds. However, our findings reveal a discrepancy between higher intentions to provide support and actual large-scale financial behaviour, influenced by parental homeownership, location, and life stage. We argue that there is a complex interplay of housing wealth accumulation and welfare regimes in shaping family support norms. This research is crucial in ongoing debates about intergenerational housing wealth transmission and family practice
Adding value to Indigenous brands through collaborative marketing: Learning from A Māori grower collective and a global kiwifruit corporate
No full textIn the highly competitive global market for agribusiness products, it is imperative that organisations and brands differentiate themselves, particularly in ways that benefit their product or service offerings and make sense to consumers. This is particularly true for Indigenous organisations and brands who have historically maintained extensive trading networks, and stand to realise significant economic development opportunities from participating today (Carlos et al., 2024). Cooperatives continue to provide a pathway for collaboration and competitive advantage in agribusiness, which has mostly allowed for increased sharing of resources, marketing and education efforts, and gaining market access. But exactly how this is achieved, and the rate of its success, often differs by factors such as the key market(s), home country, and specific industry structure.
Māori Kiwifruit Growers Inc (MKGI) is an example of a Māori kiwifruit grower collective trying to increase its visibility in the global marketplace, through a collaborative marketing partnership with the global kiwifruit corporate, Zespri International Ltd (Zespri). Established through wānanga (group meetings) in 2016, MKGI originally sought to increase the flow of information from its marketer, Zespri, to the Māori kiwifruit growers throughout Aotearoa (New Zealand). Eight years on, the reverse is also true—MKGI is now able to feed information back to its marketer. Since 2023, MKGI has grown the number of containers of kiwifruit exported to Hawaii each year. This market is particularly significant for MKGI because Aotearoa and Hawaii share historical, ancestral, and migration ties. Hawaii is firmly part of MKGI’s new phase of growth.
A partnership of this nature, that is, between a global brand and an Indigenous organisation, is undoubtedly unique in nature. So too is the structure of the New Zealand kiwifruit industry, which is at present time the only one of its kind in the southern hemisphere. In 1999 New Zealand Kiwifruit Export Regulations (Regulations) established Zespri as the single exporter of kiwifruit grown in New Zealand to all markets beyond New Zealand and Australia. Australia was not included due to the Australia–New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement at the time, which remains regulated under the Horticulture Export Authority Act 1987. Included in these Regulations, however, is a clause for the export of New Zealand grown kiwifruit by others through collaborative marketing arrangements approved by the regulator, Kiwifruit New Zealand (KNZ). While not a true cooperative, the corporate structure of Zespri shows many similarities.
In the literature, collaborative marketing is defined as a group that have organised themselves to collectively market their product or service (Murray-Prior, 2007). In the Regulations, collaborative marketing is “an arrangement by which a person may export New Zealand grown kiwifruit in collaboration with Zespri Group Limited…[with] the purpose of increasing the overall wealth of New Zealand kiwifruit producers” (Kiwifruit New Zealand, n.d.). These arrangements provide opportunities for smaller organisations, like MKGI, to gain a footing on the global stage.
With this highly specific situation occurring domestically, but equally with an eye on global applicability for Indigenous agribusiness groups and trade partners, our research was guided by the following questions:
• How might branding and marketing facilitate more visibility in global value chains for Indigenous organisations and brands?
• How can Indigenous/non-Indigenous partnerships be better promoted?
• Does the fact that the products are biological in nature have any implications on the overall partnership?
• What challenges to growth exist in partnerships of this nature?
• Is Indigenous-to-Indigenous trade an opportunity worth further pursuit?
First, a comprehensive scoping review of relevant peer-reviewed literature was undertaken on Indigenous/non-Indigenous partnerships to understand the work already completed in this space, and to identify any possible gaps. We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRIMSA) protocol by Moher et al. (2009). This scan identified a significant lack of literature on commercial agribusiness partnerships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous organisations, and justified the need to do more research in this area.
Then, guided by the literature, several semi-structured interviews with key actors from MKGI, Zespri, and other value chain partners involved in their export programme to Hawaii were also conducted. These interviews sought to better understand how the collaborative marketing partnership worked at both an operational and governance level, as well as the lessons that could be applied to future partnerships of a similar nature to that of MKGI and Zespri. The addition of primary data allowed us to better understand the impact of collaborative marketing, agribusiness, and indigeneity on the overall partnership. Interview scripts were then transcribed and analysed for common themes and findings.
A number of key findings were identified through qualitative analysis, in turn, providing answers to our research questions, and areas for further inquiry. Namely, branding and marketing partnerships play a significant role in realising future opportunities for Indigenous agribusiness organisations.
The story matters. Collaborative marketing, while regulated in the case of New Zealand’s kiwifruit industry, may have wider applicability to other partnerships of this nature. This is particularly true for smaller entities that may otherwise struggle to gain consumer attention and shelf space. One participant noted that it “helps to be focused on concrete outcomes”, as is the case for MKGI. However, there might be challenges with Indigenous branding, especially (though not exclusively) for brands that are not Indigenous, as well as well established brands. But, as one participant noted, success is more likely if one can “marry strong outcomes, with tikanga (Māori protocol), and branding.” And at the end of the day, “the story matters”. It is up to the individual organisations themselves to not only ask the question, What does it mean for communities that need more opportunities? but to tell the right story with it.
Work together to be visible. Several participants agreed that there are opportunities for Māori to move closer to the market, “to work with other Indigenous cultures around the world…as well as with other Māori”. Visibility is also key, with one participant noting they were “seeing an increase of Māori in corporate spaces, and at all levels.”
Being small and having shared values. Size was a factor that was not explicitly explored, yet arose in the findings organically. Unsurprisingly, the smaller businesses in the value chain found it easier to work with each other. “Being part of a small team … allows you to connect with people along the whole value chain”. In the same way that organisational culture plays an important role in partnership success or otherwise, Māori businesses found it easier to work with other Māori, or Indigenous, businesses. One participant noted that it was “easy to ‘be Māori’ given they are Māori as well.”
Deep connection to the land. When investigating the impact of biological products on partnerships generally, a couple of participants thought that it would not affect the partnership itself, but the possibly the operationalisation of the partnership (for example, the perishability and seasonality of these products and the impacts these have both upstream and downstream). The main insight was related to the connection to land, and to those who care deeply about it, like Māori and other Indigenous groups. One participant noted an added benefit that “you get to work with growers throughout the whole journey”, which is not something that all other products or industries could say, but was something that they deemed important to them.
Working towards a common goal. Growth challenges, in this partnership and others, are inevitable but as one participant noted, “staying engaged with growers is key”, before also adding, “don’t [sic] let the politics get in the way of the overall kaupapa (purpose).” Another challenge is satisfying the needs of different collectives with slightly different, though likely aligned, goals. One participant stated, “the challenge is to get everyone on board when it comes to making commercial decisions with diverse stakeholders.” Something that is more difficult for collectivist societies, like Māori. MKGI knows this well as this process of wānanga dates to its inception.
Overall, participants agreed that there were further opportunities to unlock when it comes to Indigenous-to-Indigenous trade. This is something MKGI plans to investigate further, and an area that is currently under-researched.
Findings from this research may be useful for managers in Indigenous, and non-Indigenous, organisations alike, particularly those in agribusiness industries. They may enable better partnerships and more inclusive, and accessible, opportunities realised from participating in the global trade environment. The importance of, yet also challenges with, branding in these partnerships are also outlined. For Indigenous firms specifically, this work provides a potential pathway which may be suitably adapted to help them realise their agribusiness export ambitions. For non-Indigenous firms, it offers an example of a successful Indigenous/non-Indigenous partnership.
The present research concludes that while there are challenges within the increasingly competitive global trading environment, there lies an opportunity to increase Indigenous brand visibility, and participation, through partnership; either through Indigenous/Indigenous partnership, or Indigenous/non-Indigenous partnership. Branding and marketing, including collaborative marketing, plays a significant role in this, and is worth further exploration for brands wishing to facilitate partnerships and supply chain channels similar to that of MKGI and Zespri. But the importance of telling the right story, to the right people, cannot be overstated. It also concludes there is more work to be done to fully understand the challenges, opportunities, and practical realities of Indigenous-to-Indigenous trade, particularly in agribusiness industries
Applying transdisciplinary thinking to pastoral livelihoods and environments
No full textTransdisciplinary thinking lies at one end of a continuum within system thinking, with discipline‑based approaches at the other end. Interdisciplinarity and multidisciplinarity are intermediate domains within this continuum. Transdisciplinary thinking is unique in always starting with problem‑structuring related to contexts, in which people, typically with multiple and competing objectives, interact with a biophysical world. As such, trans‑disciplinary thinking is particularly relevant to pastoral systems where livelihoods and
environmental issues intersect, and where multiple stakeholders are the norm. Integration, both within transdisciplinary thinking and consequent action, is particularly challenging. This is because there is no quantitative methodology that can capture the complex
essence of transdisciplinary issues that encompass both human and biophysical disciplines. Nevertheless, a transdisciplinary approach provides a framework for civilised debate and communication within a broad framework of policy generation. We illustrate these issues with two highly contrasting studies, these being pastoralism at the country level in New Zealand and at the county level in Qinghai on the Qinghai‑Tibet Plateau in Western China. Both case studies are characterised by complex property rights within a dynamic resource constrained environment, in which environmental issues have planetary implications that
extend well beyond the bounds of the pastoral system itself
Rhizosphere microbiome engineering for plant drought stress resilience using a fungal volatile organic compound
No full textRhizosphere microbiomes have long played a crucial role in building plant resilience to environmental stressors such as drought. Fungal volatile organic compounds (FVOC) play a key role in plant-microbe interaction including host-microbiome recognition, assembly, and maintenance using chemical signals. This study investigated the impact of a FVOC on plant biomass and rhizosphere bacterial abundance of drought stressed pasture (perennial ryegrass and white clover) under glasshouse conditions. Rhizosphere samples were collected when plants had recovered from three consecutive drought events. Roots with rhizosphere soil firmly attached were placed in phosphate buffered saline and processed by shaking for 10 min, filtering using 100 μm cell strainers, and centrifuging for 5 min at 3000 x g. Bacterial genomic DNA was extracted using Qiagen DNeasy PowerSoil Pro Kits. The V5 and V7 regions of the 16S rRNA amplicons were sequenced using the DNA nanoball (DNB) sequencing platform, with sequence denoising using the DADA2 pipelines, and microbiome analyses conducted via MicrobiomeAnalyst. FVOC treatment increased plant dry weight 19% and 17% and rhizosphere soil bacterial population by 44% and 99% compared to the control, under well-watered and drought conditions, respectively. Three main bacteria genera, Thermoactinomyces, Laceyella, and Geobacillus, were 90%, 64%, and 107% respectively, more abundant in the FVOC treatment than the control. These three bacterial genera are involved in promoting plant growth and enhancing plant drought stress resilience. These results suggest that this FVOC can selectively manipulate beneficial microbial taxa in the rhizosphere to promote plant drought stress resilience, which could be a potential strategy for enhancing crop performance under drought conditions
Expert perspective: Predator Free by 2050
No full textDespite the eradication of predators from many islands and regional successes, there is a long way to go before we can reverse the decline in native species across increasingly large areas of mainland New Zealand
The role of spatial variability in developing cycling cities: Implications drawn from geographically weighted regressions
No full textAs cities grow, they increase in complexity, requiring the effective use of land resources. Cycling is generally regarded as an alternative transport mode to support the development of the cities of tomorrow. In response to urbanization, in many cities worldwide, a common concern associated with investing in cycling networks is the resulting use after such investment. This study uses a continuous longitudinal dataset of daily cycling counts from January 2018 to June 2024 to assess bicycle volumes across three of New Zealand’s largest cities. The results reveal that the relationship between distance and cycle count is not uniform across space, with some areas showing a negative effect between distance and cycling, and others showing a positive one. A global OLS model hides these complexities, as shown in the geographically weighted regression (GWR) model. The coefficients for distance (−0.49) and precipitation (−95.23) in the global OLS are higher, and do not reveal the non-uniformity between cities, wheras themultiple GWR coefficients for distance range between −0.57 and −0.47 and precipitation between −33.47 and −97.63. The results reveal that cycling volume demonstrates lower sensitivity to changes in distance compared to variations in weather conditions. At the city level, there are notable intercity differences in sensitivity. The variability in the coefficients across locations suggests that, although distance and precipitation have general effects, local factors, such as infrastructure quality, topography, weather adaptation measures, and cultural attitudes toward cycling, play a critical role in modulating these relationships. The findings highlight the complexity of spatial interactions and emphasize the need for localized interventions when planning cycling networks
Variability in response to an 8-week low altitude football training camp supplemented with intermittent hypoxic training
No full textIntroduction: Living and training at altitude is popular among athletes; however, significant individual differences exist in the improvement of sea-level performance. We investigated potential physiological factors that may explain the difference between responders and non-responders. Design: Randomized Controlled Trial. Methods: Twenty male football players completed an 8-week training camp at 825 m above sea-level, supplemented with intermittent hypoxic training three times per week at FIO2 = 0.15. Based on the players 2800 m run performances, players were separated into responders (improved by 10.7 ± 8.1%, mean ± 95% CI, n=14) and non-responders (decreased by 6.1 ± 12.8%, n = 6). Results: Compared to baseline, the responders had a lower resting heart rate (HRrest) at 1 (-4.6 ± 2.7 bpm, Effect Size = 1.2) and 14 days (-6.7 ± 3.3 bpm, ES = 1.7) post-training camp, whereas the non-responders HRrest changed little. Compared to the non-responders, the responders had higher pNN50 at 1 (12.2 ± 11.5, p = 0.04, ES = 1.6) and 14 days (10.1 ± 11.7, p = 0.09, ES = 1.4) post-training camp. In addition, the responders decreased their LF/HF ratio at day 1 (-1.1 ± 0.6, p < 0.01, ES = 1.0) and day 14 post camp (-0.9 ± 0.6, p < 0.01, ES = 0.8), whereas the non-responders LF/HF ratio increased (0.8 ± 0.9 and 0.9 ± 0.9). Conclusions: Reduced HRrest and increased cardiac parasympathetic tone was associated with improved run performance after altitude training and may be used to differentiate altitude responders compared to non-responder
Research Centres as evidence-providing resources for planners and policy makers
No full textIn this field note, I look at three of the 17 research centres at Lincoln University. These three could be providing evidence to inform planners and related policymakers. Two of these centres, the Centre for Land Environment and People (LEaP) and the Waterways Centre, were established more than a decade ago. The other, the Sustainable Property Research Centre (SPRC) is very new. Each is quite different in character and activity. This note is essentially a critical reflection, based on being a researching member of all three centres, but viewing them from my planning and policy analyst practitioner perspective. My intention is to draw these centres to the attention of planners and policy-makers and encourage them to consider how they might best utilise such centres, while at the same time taking a critical look at the nature of the centre activities and what they may need to do to be more relevant
Drivers of phenological transitions in the seedling life stage
No full textPlant functional ecology research has primarily focused on juvenile and adult plants even though regeneration from seed can be the most consequential life-history bottleneck with cascading influence on later stages of growth and reproduction. Understandings of relationships among phenology, morphology and growth-related functional traits have improved our knowledge of plant life-history strategies and adaptive responses to changing climate. However, whether relationships among phenological and morpho-physiological traits exist during plant regeneration is unknown. We also lack understanding of the relative importance of these relationships compared with those of regeneration phenology with other factors like plant phylogeny, geographic location and whether a species is native or non-native to the location. To better understand these gaps in knowledge, we evaluated three phenological traits (days to germination, first and third true leaves) and six morpho-physiological traits (seed mass, relative growth rate, root elongation rate, root: shoot ratio, specific leaf area and seedling C:N) associated with regeneration for 131 forb species from six globally distributed grasslands. Morpho-physiological traits showed several significant correlations with phenological traits. Boosted regression trees revealed that their relative importance in predicting phenological traits varied among the three phenological stages (34%–51%). Interestingly, the relative importance of morpho-physiological traits on the phenological stages was comparable to that of phylogeny (36%–46%). In general, species with faster phenologies produced seedlings that grew faster. The influence of geographic location on phenological traits was strongest at germination (29%) and decreased (8%–15%) at later phenological stages. Native versus non-native origin had little to no impact (0%–2%) on regeneration phenology. Strong relationships between days to germination and geographic location indicate signatures of local adaptation in the earliest life stages. Similar morpho-physiological trait values between native and non-native forbs imply that trait matching may be essential for non-native establishment. While associations between phenological and morpho-physiological traits during regeneration have not been previously recognized, our results suggest that these are complex and variable across plant regeneration. Better understanding of these associations and their variation across plant life stages may help capture species shifts with ongoing climate change and be used to develop novel approaches to seed-based restoration
