Food and farming professionals who have received AgriFood Advanced Training Partnership (AATP) bursaries are reporting huge benefits to their careers and the businesses they work for.
 
More than 1,000 awards worth a total of £1.2million have been given to those working in agriculture and the food supply chain.

Courses range from one-day workshops to post-graduate diplomas, and attendees say they have used the training to boost sales, develop new products and find solutions to problems within their businesses.

Deborah Kendale, AATP’s manager, said: “The feedback from those who have taken advantage of the funding available for training to aid their professional development has been fantastic.

“We know that they have taken what they learnt back to their business and are using the skills gained with the AATP to innovate and drive agriculture and the food supply chain forward which is exactly what this money was intended for.”

The AATP programme was launched three years ago and offers a bursary of 50% towards the cost of courses covering a range of areas from plant science and feed nutrition to food manufacturing and business leadership.

Employees from the leading companies serving UK agriculture have already taken advantage, as have farmers wanting to develop their skills.  

Funding comes from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and Ms Kendale said that a further £800,000 is available from the initiative, to be allocated by the end of 2016.

She said: “It is possible to attend a course purely for continuing professional development purposes or to sign up for one of three postgraduate-level programmes to gain a qualification while you work.”

There are nearly 100 courses appealing to a wide range of farming sectors and the supply chain.

Roughly one third of training so far has been in courses involving producing and processing animals, one third relates to food and nutrition and the balance focuses on crops, agronomy and business management.

“The training is fully flexible and delivered in a variety of ways, from a one-day workshop to PhD and anything in between,” Ms Kendale added.

“Many courses are offered on a part-time e-learning basis making them even more flexible.”

To find out more about the courses or to apply for funding, go to www.agrifoodatp.ac.uk