What is Nuffield Ireland?
Most readers who know me will know I have now taken over from John Tyrrell as Executive at Nuffield Ireland. As a Nuffield Scholar of 21 years, I am particularly enthused by this appointment with one of the most proactive, positively influential organisations in Irish agribusiness, and very grateful to the Chairperson Karen Brosnan and the Board for having selected me. However, my experience is that too few people, even in Irish agri-food circles, know very much about the organisation.
Nuffield Ireland’s mission is to “discover people with a desire to contribute to the greater good of agriculture, food systems and society, to develop their leadership capacity and to support their journey to better thinking and action”.
We identify potential leaders in farming, aquaculture, forestry, food production, and other agri-food related activities, and with financial support from our sponsors, we provide them with a travel research bursary, a structured programme and a solid international network to research a relevant topic they are passionate about.
Nuffield Ireland has already proven itself a force for good in agriculture and food. With the support of existing and new sponsors, and with a raised profile, it can make itself even more useful in finding practical solutions to the challenges caused for food production and land management by environment and climate policy.
A little bit of history…
The Nuffield name and emblem, a bull riding a bicycle, both derive from the late Lord Nuffield. Born in 1877, near Worcester, William Richard Morris was the grandson of a farmer.
He started by repairing the bicycles of Oxford graduates, then manufactured his own newer models, eventually setting up a motor car business. With considerable financial success, he also developed his social conscience. From 1939, William Morris set up the Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust, which was instrumental in the later creation of the NHS. In 1943, he established the Nuffield Foundation for “the advancement of health and social well-being and the care and comfort of the aged poor”. Ennobled for his philanthropy, and encouraged by Jack McClean, Vice President of the UK’s National Farmers’ Union, these objectives had been widened to include agricultural advancement in 1947. The Nuffield tractors, as in the photo above, were built from 1948 by the agricultural division of Morris Motors.
Conscious of his own lack of formal education, and of the need in post war Britain for a good and plentiful food supply, Lord Nuffield agreed to McClean’s suggestion to support travelling scholarships for established farmers and growers who had contributed to food production during the war.
Although generous, the initial funding for the Nuffield Foundation eventually ran out, and new agribusiness sponsors became involved to support the continued work of the organisation.
Nuffield Ireland
Nuffield was brought to Ireland in the mid 90s through an inspired joint initiative of the Irish Farmers’ Association, the Irish Farmers’ Journal and the FBD Trust. Specifically, Matt Dempsey, then Editor of the Farmers’ Journal, and Michael Berkery, then General Secretary of the IFA, made it possible for Irish candidates to apply for a Scholarship through Nuffield UK, committing their own organisations and the FBD Trust to provide financial support to fund the Scholarships. The first two Scholars were prominent dairy and tillage farmers Padraig Walshe and Jim McCarthy in 1996. In the early years especially, Irish Scholars benefited hugely from the support of the founding organisations, and in particular from the wonderful John Grogan of the Farmers’ Journal, who ensured the Irish Scholars introduced the new-fangled wizardry of Microsoft PowerPoint to Nuffield UK in the late 90s! Nuffield Ireland has since developed its own structures, recruitment and sponsorship capacity, and now awards up to six scholarships per annum. To this day, IFA, the IFJ and FBD Trust remain among the strongest supporters of the programme.
Nuffield Ireland counts 108 Scholars, representing all sectors of agri-food production, from traditional livestock and tillage farming to horticulture, aquaculture, forestry and small food producers. It is established as a charity, governed by a Board of Directors and serviced by working subcommittees and a professional Executive. It is fully integrated with Nuffield International and is supported by many Irish agri-business sponsors.
As well as IFA, the Farmers’ Journal and the FBD Trust, Nuffield Ireland main Scholarship sponsors include the ICOS Golden Jubilee Trust, Glanbia, Aurivo, MSD Animal Health, Bord Bia, Dairygold, Kerry Group, Dairymaster, LIC, BIM, ABP, MII and ISTA. Additional supports towards conferences and other activities have been given by some of our Scholarship sponsors and additional stakeholders, including most recently Ornua, Munster Bovine, AIB, XLVets, Goulding and Macra na Feirme.
Invaluable international networks
Nuffield is now an international organisation, with members in the UK, New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands, France, Canada, Zimbabwe and of course Ireland. Nuffield International is also centrally supporting the development of scholarship programmes in Brazil, South Africa, the US and Chile – with ambition to reach further agriculturalists in more developing countries.
Through the UN FAO Private Sector Mechanism, Nuffield Ireland has also been involved in the Food Systems Summit debates. Those apply the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) to global food policies and are the basis for the EU’s Green Deal and its Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies. It is important to remember that those two strategies underpin the implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy for the 2023 to 2027 period, as well as the Irish Food Vision 2030 strategy, and the elements of the 2021 Irish Climate Action Plan which will apply to agriculture.
The networks and platforms Nuffield opens for Irish Scholars are hugely valuable. Many of the international alumni around the world are running farms and agribusinesses, leading communities, serving as elected officials, and shaping global agriculture practices and policies. Already, some of our more recent Scholars have participated in and presented to meetings of the UN FAO PSM in Rome, actively influencing those impactful food policy debates.
An exciting, but exacting Scholarship programme
Nuffield Ireland is always on the lookout for passionate professionals and potential leaders in agriculture – including farmers, food producers, fish and shellfish farmers, horticulturists, foresters and other agricultural experts. Each summer, Nuffield Ireland starts its recruitment for the following year’s batch of Scholars. Typically, applications are sought by the end of August, with interviews and selection in October, and announcement of Scholars at the Annual Nuffield Ireland Conference in November. Successful Scholars are awarded a bursary of €14,000 as a contribution towards the cost of travel and accommodation they will incur as they travel in pursuit of their study topic.
What follows is a programme fully integrated with Nuffield International which gives Scholars exceptional opportunities to research the topic they are passionate about, and allows them to access, and eventually become part of, this impressive international network of agri-food and community leaders.
The Scholarship requires the fulfilment of a two-year research programme during which Scholars effectively have to put their lives on hold. They have to travel for at least ten weeks, seven of which are taken up with mandatory elements in the programme. First a full week is used for general induction through the Contemporary Scholars’ Conference, hosted each spring for all that year’s international Scholars by one of the Nuffield member countries. Over the next few months, the international Global Focus Programme (GFP) requires another six weeks of pre-arranged group research tours of various countries’ agribusiness and food policy stakeholders. These two elements alone, which are a mandatory part of the programme, swallow up the bulk of the bursary, yet additional personal study travel must also be undertaken by the Scholar to complete their research.
Scholars need to plan to make themselves available for these extended periods of travel, including family, home and business considerations. They also need to ensure that they can financially afford to complement the bursary where necessary.
After the glamour, the hard work…
When the adrenalin fuelled travels are done, it is back home for the harder bits: the mandatory writing of a report of quasi-academic standard, which takes more time and application than most Scholars expect. Then, there are the preparation and delivery of the oral presentation of the report to the Annual Conference.
Throughout the process, Scholars are strongly supported by Nuffield Ireland. They are matched up with an Alumnus to mentor them through the two years and are encouraged to maintain engagement with fellow Scholars from the same year through WhatsApp groups and other communications. They are invited to partake in individual monthly virtual catch-ups with the Nuffield Ireland Director in charge of Scholars management, the Chairperson and the Executive, to support them through the writing of the report and to help them prepare for presentation of their findings and recommendations.
Finally, once a Nuffield Scholar, always a Nuffield Scholar. Becoming part of the Nuffield international network of agricultural influencers means Scholars don’t just benefit personally, they are also expected, and will want to “give back”.
Most Scholars continue to deepen their research and share their findings with fellow farmers and food producers, the Irish and international agrifood business stakeholders. There are also many opportunities to remain active within Nuffield Ireland as Board or Subcommittee members, recruiters, mentors to newer Scholars, or helping organise international visits of Nuffield Scholars when Ireland hosts one of the GFPs.
Diversity and sustainability
The diversity of Scholars has increased in Nuffield Ireland over the years, from an earlier predominance of traditional livestock farming to more arable, horticulture, forestry and aquaculture practitioners, as well as small food producers. However, with only 22% of female Scholars, we clearly have more to do on gender diversity to attract more women applicants!
All topics rightly now have a strong sustainability dimension, dealing with the economic, social and environmental aspects of agriculture. It should be noted that, while this is a consideration in the selection process, it is also coming spontaneously from the applicants as they define their topics. Our potential Scholars are clearly aware of the urgency and importance of climate action, biodiversity restoration and water/air quality improvements in agrifood production and land management, as well as economic efficiency.
In the last two years alone, our Scholars have undertaken such diverse study topics as: the possible pathways to dairy farming for farmers who don’t inherit a farm, soil regeneration and regenerative agriculture, urban agriculture to reconnect consumers with the origin of their food, using dung beetles to help minimise anthelmintic resistance, the marketing of Irish eggs, analysing behaviour change motivations on farms to reduce AMR and improve water quality, how dairy beef production and arable agriculture can complement each-other in an integrated system and acquiring social licence to increase tree cover in the Irish landscape, and the challenges and opportunities for farms and co-ops of Net Zero carbon emissions. This is just a very small sample. You can check out the Scholars and their topics on the Nuffield Ireland website.
This proactive, solutions-driven approach to environmental, climate-related, animal health and welfare and socio-economic challenges is what makes the strength of Nuffield Scholars as peer-to-peer role models for primary producers. It is also what makes Nuffield Ireland an essential partner for agri-food stakeholders, from food processors, to educational/advisory institutions, to policy decision makers and government.
A force for good for sustainable agriculture
During a recent workshop on strategy development, I was asked what one image or object symbolises my Nuffield Scholar experience. What immediately comes to mind is the bunch of keys to a central Melbourne condominium which Nuffield Australia Scholar John Watson lent me – a perfect stranger to him – for the duration of my stay. To me, it symbolises the strength and trust of the network, the doors it literally and metaphorically opens, the opportunities it creates for Scholars, the international collaborations it facilitates.
I would urge any young (and not so young) woman or man professionally involved in and passionate about farming, food production or land and coastline management to seriously consider the option of a Nuffield Scholarship.
With support from existing and new sponsors beyond the funding of scholarship bursaries, Nuffield Ireland can become an indispensable partner for Irish agriculture stakeholders, and open up even more opportunities for potential Scholars.
© Catherine Lascurettes, Cúl Dara Consultancy
