Game Changers: Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, the diversity champion

Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, also known as The Black Farmer, has been nominated for our special Game Changers Award, which will be announced at Farmers Weekly Awards on 3 October 2024.

Born in Jamaica to parents who came to the UK in the 1950s, Devon farmer Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones was raised in Birmingham in a family of nine children.

Determined from a young age to go into farming, he knew it wouldn’t be easy.

See also: Game Changers: Guy Singh-Watson, the vegetable box retailer

“As a young boy living in inner-city Birmingham and dreaming of getting into farming, I soon realised it was virtually impossible if you’re not from the right background,” he says.

After leaving school with no qualifications, Wilfred worked as a chef before enrolling on a training scheme which led to a job in television.

Still determined to work in farming, he made food programmes before setting up a food and drink marketing agency.

“My life was turned around, simply because I was given a break,” he says.

At a glance: Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones, The Black Farmer, Devon and London

• Inspiration for new entrants into farming industry
• Mission to promote diversity in British agriculture
• Built his own successful food brand from scratch
• Shows non-farming youngsters how to succeed

Own farm

The success of Wilfred’s TV work and marketing business meant that in 2000 he was finally able to purchase his own small farm on the Devon-Cornwall border, where he developed and launched The Black Farmer food brand.

It has been a roaring success. The Black Farmer range of award-winning sausages and other high-quality food products is sold by major supermarkets. He has gone from impoverished immigrant to multimillionaire.

Wilfred believes young people from non- farming backgrounds can emulate his success.

He is on a mission to promote diversity in agriculture – inspiring a generation of new entrants – and has set up a number of projects to encourage young people into farming.

These include schemes with the Royal Agricultural University, where he is now a governor, and a New Faces For Farming initiative that welcomes 16- to 18-year-olds from urban areas to Writtle College, near Chelmsford, Essex.

Passion and enthusiasm

“I’m of the Windrush generation, and what a lot of people don’t realise is that people who came over during the 1950s came from rural backgrounds and farming communities, but they ended up in the towns and cities where the work was.

“Even though they may have had a passion or enthusiasm for farming, there was nowhere they could go to see if there were any suitable jobs in that industry,” he explains.

Now in his 60s, Wilfred shows no sign of slowing down.

Awarded an MBE in 2020 for services to farming, he remains proud of his roots – recently opening a farm shop in Brixton to further strengthen links between city and rural communities.

“My father had an allotment, like many people from Afro-Caribbean communities.

“It was my responsibility to look after it, and that allotment became my sanctuary – I remember at the age of 11 making myself the promise that I would have my own farm.”

He believes all agricultural colleges should hold taster weekends to encourage non-farming young people into the industry.

“There are certain things that you cannot teach in a classroom – you’ve got to go out and live and breathe it.”