Business

As of 2008, Australia had a population of over twenty one million with an urban population of 23.5% in 2007. This was a decline from 24.1 % in 2005. The introduction of whole foods in Australia would be a good idea. The numbers of people who live in towns are becoming more aware of the need to have a healthy lifestyle. Australia has high literacy levels with the primary school enrolment being 101.6% in 2007. This is a decline from 107.8% in 1990. This means that people are able to read and have a reasonable mind especially where whole foods are concerned. The rate of imports in Australia has remained almost constant, moving from 21.2% in 2005 to 22.6% in 2008 (World Bank, 2008).

Australia is a continent between the Indian and the South Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by Papua New Guinea to the North East and Indonesia to the far North West. Although it is the smallest continent, it happens to be the sixth largest country in the world. Australia is not entirely a new market to agriculture. It brings in thirty nine billion dollars in gross value annually. It already imports rice to the neighboring Papua New Guinea. This means that if the whole concept of whole foods were taken seriously, it would feed the people in Australia and find enough to export. It has a number of environmental concerns such as soil erosion, salinity and desertification. There is overgrazing, industrial development and poor farming methods all of which contribute to soil erosion. Desertification and clearing land for the sake of agriculture has led to the destruction of natural habitats for wild animals.

Marine life has also been threatened because of increased shipping. The above reasons explain why the concept of whole foods has not been wholly embraced by people in Australia. As noted above, there is potential for a whole food market in Australia. Farmers need to be educated on the importance of conserving the environment if agriculture is going to succeed. Desertification will not help matters and will only make agriculture difficult especially if they are to rely on rainfall. Since Australia is a dry place most of the farming is done through irrigation. Whole food farming would be appropriate for small family farms. However, the number of these farms has decreased and people are no longer interested in farming. Most of them prefer other types of jobs especially in the offices. The population structure can be divided into three age groups. 0-14 years, which make up 18.4%. The 15-64 years age group makes up 67.5% and they are the majority. This age is also the most productive and with a little encouragement, they can take up whole food farming. The median age is 37.5 years. The females are at 38.3 years and the males 36.8 years. The 2010 estimates of the population growth rate is 1.17%. The life expectancy of the total population is 61.72 years. The males have a life expectancy of 79.33 years and the females 84.25 years (CIA, 2010).

The main imports are machinery equipment, transport and telecommunication equipment, computers and office machines and petroleum products. Australia could import agricultural equipment, which will make farming easier. Since there is a lot of land available, they could practice commercial farming using equipment. The unemployment rate is low and finding enough unskilled labor may be challenging. It could also import better preservation equipment. Most of the whole foods are perishable.

Although some stay for many days, some do not. It would therefore be a wise decision to invest in preservation equipment. Australia has a potential of becoming a whole food market. The economic policies are quite friendly. There are low levels of corruption and it is a democratic nation. Its political stability will make ensure that it has enough investors coming in. Their input and investment can be used to enlarge the whole food market. Australia is therefore a market with a huge potential (World Audit, 2001).

References

CIA (2010). Australia Oceanic. Retrieved 09 June 2010 from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

World Bank (2008). Countries. Retrieved 09 June 2010 from http://www.worldbank.org/data/countrydata/countrydata.html

World Audit (2001).Democracy Audit. Retrieved 09 June 2010 from http://www.worldaudit.org/democracy.htm