Nuffield scholar calls farming the least diverse sector in the UK

Renewed calls for greater support for black and people of colour (BPOC) within UK agriculture have been heard this week, in a Nuffield Farming report by farm vet Dr Navaratnam Partheeban.

The report, titled “Encouraging and supporting black and people of colour in agriculture”, has called for greater support of ethnic minorities, stating that agriculture is the least diverse of any industry in the UK.

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In his study, Dr Partheeban, who is known in the industry as Theeb, says “creating equity and inclusion is crucial” and in order to achieve this, the sector would need to create a “level playing field and make people feel like they belong”.

He explains: “Acknowledging and accepting the past, creating positive opportunities for marginalised people, platforming and promoting BPOC people, and creating support networks and systems to help BPOC people be an equal part of the sector is key to making any programme a success.

“By increasing the diversity of people in our sector and inspiring the next generation, we will help create ideas, innovation and talent plus making the sector more representative of the country we serve.”

To achieve this, Dr Partheeban explains that the sector must “start investing more time, money and effort into working for positive change”.

His full report is available to read online at the Nuffield Farming library.