Beyond the farm gate: global networks and the remaking of Australia’s coastal horticulture regions
Neilson, Jeff, Coe, Neil M., Azeredo, Rafael, Cross, Rebecca, Horton, Joanna, Pritchard, Bill, Smith, Kiah, and Wang, Ju-Han Zoe (2025) Beyond the farm gate: global networks and the remaking of Australia’s coastal horticulture regions. Australian Geographer, 56 (4). pp. 477-491.
|
PDF (Published Version)
- Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (989kB) | Preview |
Abstract
Australia’s coastal horticultural regions are being reshaped through their deepening integration into global production networks (GPNs). Focusing on the north-eastern coastal strip (NECS), we explain how global market, financial, labour, intellectual property (IP) and environmental governance networks (presented as five network types) intersect with territorially specific conditions–including climate, land markets, regulatory frameworks, water systems and multifunctional rural transitions–to produce uneven regional development trajectories. Through case studies of mandarins in the North Burnett, macadamia investment in Bundaberg, labour mobility programs across various sites, proprietary berry genetics in Coffs Harbour, and reef-related environmental regulation in Far North Queensland, we show that global forces do not simply impact upon rural regions but co-constitute them. Each of the five networks generate distinctive forms of value creation, contestations and governance outcomes. The analysis demonstrates that Australia’s horticultural regions are increasingly governed through polycentric systems in which globally networked actors influence territorial change. We argue that understanding contemporary rural governance requires recognising how regional futures are shaped through these multi-scalar, mutually constitutive processes.
| Item ID: | 91417 |
|---|---|
| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 1465-3311 |
| Copyright Information: | © 2026 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent. |
| Funders: | Australian Research Council (ARC) |
| Projects and Grants: | ARC DP230100962 |
| Date Deposited: | 12 May 2026 23:59 |
| FoR Codes: | 30 AGRICULTURAL, VETERINARY AND FOOD SCIENCES > 3002 Agriculture, land and farm management > 300210 Sustainable agricultural development @ 20% 44 HUMAN SOCIETY > 4406 Human geography > 440603 Economic geography @ 50% 44 HUMAN SOCIETY > 4410 Sociology > 441003 Rural sociology @ 30% |
| SEO Codes: | 28 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 2801 Expanding knowledge > 280123 Expanding knowledge in human society @ 20% 26 PLANT PRODUCTION AND PLANT PRIMARY PRODUCTS > 2605 Horticultural crops > 260599 Horticultural crops not elsewhere classified @ 80% |
| More Statistics |
Actions (Repository Staff Only)
 |
Item Control Page |