SECURING FARMERS’ RESILIENCE IN A CHANGING WORLD JUDE MCCANN 2017 NUFFIELD SCHOLAR
Prior to my Nuffield scholarship I worked with Rural Support in Northern Ireland while living and working on the family farm in Mid-Ulster. Working for a charitable farm support organisation I was keen to learn from others and broaden my horizons while gaining a global perspective of agriculture, food production and rural communities. Farming and travelling is also something that is in my blood. For as long as our family history can be traced we were farmers in both my father’s and mother’s families, while many of our ancestors had to travel to find employment and seek new opportunities. Nuffield presented an exciting and challenging opportunity.
My Nuffield scholarship was life changing. Making friends and connections from across the globe was fantastic. Learning from others and appreciating the blessings that we have on these small islands in the UK - in terms of what we can produce and the resilient people we have - was humbling. Nuffield opened doors locally and internationally and contributed to my current role as CEO of the Farming Community Network (England and Wales). It gave me the confidence to push harder and aim higher.
Nuffield undoubtedly helped me to embrace change, step outside my comfort zone and, I hope, make positive contributions to the UK agricultural community. In my current role we have developed a 5 year strategic plan for FCN - ‘Fit for a New Farming Future’. We have secured funding with support from fellow Nuffield scholars to establish ‘Reconnecting projects’ for our farm communities as we move out of lockdown. Thank you to The Mercer Charitable Foundation for supporting this work. We have also developed projects with Nuffield UK (thanks to the Garfield Weston Foundation), NFU Mutual and many others to increase resilience among our farming communities. Nuffield has helped us look to the future with confidence and positivity.
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