NZHIA Trade And Cultural Delegation Attending An iHemp Workshop At The Global Hemp Innovation Centre, Oregon

A 20-strong industrial hemp trade and cultural delegation will attend an iHemp workshop at the Global Hemp Innovation Centre (GHIC), Oregon State University (OSU) 12-16 August 2024.

Around 100 attendees (including virtual participants) will be involved in the “Hemp Industrial Materials Supply Chain Workshop” to develop a roadmap for the industry and foster collaboration between New Zealand and the Pacific Northwest. The collaboration was initiated through the New Zealand Product Accelerator, who facilitate industry engagement with the science community.

A trade, investment, research, and cultural delegation of 20 people from New Zealand is heading to Oregon next week, 9 from the research community, including universities and Crown Research Institutes, and 11 from private industry, including 4 Māori businesses involved with industrial hemp and agricultural products. The roadmap will identify innovation barriers and opportunities to uptake hemp fibre as a material ingredient across a range of product categories, including building materials, biopolymers, and packaging.

The 4-day workshop and meetings, including Native American and Māori partners interested in biobased manufacturing, are hosted by Dr Jeff Steiner, Director Global Hemp Innovation Centre at Oregon State University.

Dr Karnika De Silva from the NZ Product Accelerator was instrumental in forging contact with GHIC; her in-person presentation to the faculty at OSU in 2022 began the relationship and facilitated the conversation between the NZHIA and the GHIC.

Dr Steiner says, “After attending the 2023 iHemp Summit in Christchurch, I was impressed seeing the similarities between the Pacific Northwest and Aotearoa New Zealand, including our connections to Māori and Native American Tribe business communities, so it just seems like a natural progression for us to work together and advance the hemp industry.”

Given the forestry and agricultural similarities, industrial hemp (iHemp) fibre is a natural starting point. With support from the USDA-National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the National Industrial Hemp Council of America, and the OSU College of Forestry, a workshop involving industry experts was planned to identify the gaps and opportunities in the iHemp fibre value and supply chain.

The organising committee Oregon State University, NZ Product Accelerator and NZHIA have been working for months to ensure the facilitated workshop, comes up with a useful road map for integrating iHemp into 4 large economic sectors

· Building Materials

· Biopolymers and biocomposites (including plastic)

· Paper and packaging

· Activated Carbon
 

We aim to answer the question, What would it take for the established biobased building materials, paper/packaging, activated carbon, and plastics/biocomposites sectors to use industrial hemp in the manufacture of products?

More than 70 in-person and 30 virtual participants from Continental North America, New Zealand, and elsewhere are expected with attendees from private industry, other private organizations, government offices, and researchers coming together to explore cultural, industrial, research and investment collaborations.

With the help from Poutama Trust, 4 Māori industry leaders will be attending a hosted banquet before the conference to meet and form relationships with the Native American tribes working in the iHemp fibre space.

NZHIA Chair Richard Barge says “A road map will help relieve the stigma associated with low THC industrial hemp, it will de-risk the iHemp fibre industry for the regulator and help educate and highlight the potential for investors and industry”.

“It’s all about collaboration and connecting with communities of interest. The information on the supply and value chains in the final roadmap will be useful to join up the industry” he says.

Dr Kirstine Hulse, General Manager of the NZ Product Accelerator says “Initiatives like this showcase the value of engagement between Industry and our research community and lead to tangible collaborations with our trading partners, that help accelerate enterprise innovation. Partnering with industry, academia and government to develop research opportunities that are based on industry needs, as well as the closer trade, investment and cultural collaborations are positive for NZ Inc”.

Starting on farms, the iHemp industry can help revitalise rural communities, providing alternate land use in their rotations and value-added opportunities in the regions.

Understanding the industry needs and barriers, and where there is missing science required to adopt new materials in the supply chain and commercial applications is important. The facilitated road map discussion will be identifying current gaps, researchers and industry can collaborate on, to come up with the evidence, research and development of tech to bridge these gaps and scale up the industry.

The workshop is an opportunity to build cultural and trade relationships between Māori and Native American businesses and the iHemp industry to attract trade and investment for mutual benefit.

The road map brings together the potential with the actual, to showcase what is being done and how sustainable products and resilient supply chains can be created in the future. A relevant and timely road map is needed to raise awareness in the investor sector and bring together the various ministries involved, joining up the government with an exciting new primary industry.

We tick all the right boxes and with support, we can be the next big, good news story to help our regions prosper and thrive, whilst building on our global reputation as a clean green country. While assisting government to achieve their targets such as doubling exports in 10 years and affordable housing.

We also acknowledge the student exchange program between OSU and Lincoln University, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2025, further student exchange and research collaborations are expected as an outcome of the iHemp fibre workshop.

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