A new Industry Skills Board (ISB) will represent the food and fibre sector in vocational education and training from January 2026.

The Food and Fibre ISB will be responsible for setting vocational education standards, overseeing the quality of delivery, and making sure apprenticeships and traineeships match what employers and students need. They will also have a workforce analysis function for their sectors, and provide investment advice to the Tertiary Education Commission. Initially the ISB will be focused on its first two functions.

During the transitional period while these changes are introduced, the ISB will also manage work-based training currently delivered by the Primary ITO division of Te Pūkenga (the current national polytechnic). This transition will begin in 2026 and continue until the end of 2027.

We are working closely with the Establishment Advisory Group responsible for setting up the new Food and Fibre ISB and are focused on ensuring a smooth transition of our current work to the new system.

Coverage

The Food and Fibre Industry Skills Board will cover the below industries within the food and fibre sector. This is largely unchanged from the current coverage of Muka Tangata.

• Agrichemical
• Agriculture including dairy, sheep, beef, deer, arable, pork, and poultry
• Animal care and behaviour
• Apiculture
• Aquaculture
• Conservation and environmental skills
• Equine, including coaching and therapeutic riding
• Fencing
• Field hydrology and irrigation
• Fishing and seafood
• Forestry, including forestry management
• Green infrastructure – including arboriculture and landscaping
• Horticulture including seeds
• Pest control
• Primary industries skills, including production and business management
• Rural contracting and servicing
• Sports turf
• Sustainability skills
• Viticulture and wine making, cellar operations

Industry Skills Board governance

Industry is involved in setting up this new organisation. To stand up the Food and Fibre ISB an Establishment Advisory Group has been formed. The appointed members of the Food and Fibre Establishment Advisory Group are:

Tracy Johnston (Chair) – viticulture

Antony Heywood – horticulture

Toby Williams – agriculture

Ultimately the ISB will have eight board members. Industry is expected to have strong input into the make-up of the board.

What’s underway now

The key tasks for the Establishment Advisory Group over the next couple of months are to:

• finalise the details of industry coverage for the Food and Fibre ISB.
• select (via a recruitment process) a Chief Executive-designate who can be appointed by the board of the ISB once established.
• endorse a “starting” organisational structure for ISB delivery of functions and responsibilities from 1 January 2026 and determine which roles from the WDC will initially transition into the ISB.
• endorse key policies that the governing body may need to adopt from 1 January 2026.
• oversee the preparation of documentation that the governing body and the Chief Executive of the organisation will require on 1 January 2026.

A smooth transition

The new Food and Fibre ISB will continue the foundations, built by Muka Tangata, of industry-led qualifications development and fit-for-purpose micro-credentials, support for providers to deliver quality programmes for learners, and direct industry engagement to understand their needs, challenges and opportunities.

We are committed to making the transition to the Food and Fibre Industry Skills Board as smooth as possible and is fully engaged with the Establishment Advisory Group to support this process.

We are confident that the Food and Fibre ISB will reflect the voice, aspirations, and priorities of the sector in the vocational education system. In the meantime, we will continue to operate and deliver our services to industry until December 2025.

What does this mean for employers, employees and learners

Employees and trainees will be able to continue to enrol and study in existing vocational education and training courses.

We encourage those currently participating in or considering entering work-based learning to continue to enrol in and complete apprenticeships and other work-based training that meets their needs. All existing work-based learning programmes have been developed with industry input and are designed to meet industry and employer needs.

Anyone currently or intending to study at a polytechnic should continue to enrol in and complete relevant programmes of study. We encourage employers and learners to enrol in courses and programmes that utilise industry-developed standards, so you can be sure that the learning undertaken is relevant to industry needs.

While there will be changes to organisational structures, vocational education and training programmes will continue to be delivered, and every effort will be made to ensure that training and study is not disrupted.

 

For more information, visit the Tertiary Education Commission website: Industry Skills Boards.