Developed with
With support from
Engage Programme:
Your food and fibre sector skills and knowledge builder – or refresh.
Engage equips participants with the food and fibre skills and knowledge to engage with sector stakeholders.
The next Engage Programme will run 30 April to 2 May, with a second programme set to run 24 to 26 September 2025.
3
day intro
to agriculture
2
farm
field trips
!
multiple
'A-ha' moments
About the Programme
Engage is a 3-day immersive introduction designed to help participants develop a deeper understanding of the NZ Food and Fibre Sector and how it is connected to the global economy.
Engage is as much for those without a background in agriculture as it is those who seek to refresh their sector knowledge. Engage is particularly suited to people entering or connecting with the Food and Fibre Sector in advisory, regulatory, or farmer-focused policy roles.
The Engage Programme was designed and developed by Rural Leaders in conjunction with Lincoln University, and with support from the Ministry for the Environment.
Tailoring Engage to your business's needs
A bespoke programme for ASB
Find out how ASB used a tailored Engage Programme to help grow their rural team’s sector skills and knowledge.
Who is the programme for?
The Engage Programme is for food and fibre professionals who seek to grow their sector knowledge, skills and confidence – quickly. It is ideally suited to people entering or connecting with the primary industries in advisory, regulatory, or in farmer-focused policy roles.
Previous participants have included: Rural bankers and banking teams, rural real estate professionals, agriculture teaching professionals, rural policy advisors, environmental regulators, regional council members and more.
Content summary
Objectives and learning outcomes
Engage will help you gain a deeper understanding of New Zealand food and fibre and the global context it operates within.
Through participation in classroom discussions with industry leaders and two half-day field trips to working farm operations, you’ll build the skills, knowledge, and the confidence to engage with farmers and stakeholders. And along the way, you’ll build a connection with a valuable network of food and fibre professionals.
Grow your knowledge on:
- NZ farming systems.
- NZ agri markets, challenges, NZ trade opportunities.
- The regulatory and policy environment.
- Māori land ownership/perspectives.
- Rural communities and their wellbeing.
- Farm environmental consulting/farmer policy support.
- Implementation of insights into a work context.
Delivery team
Dr Scott Champion
Dr. Scott Champion is an experienced leader and strategist passionate about connecting with communities and clients to create effective products and services that impact the primary sector…
Dr Scott Champion
Dr Scott Champion is an experienced leader, strategist, facilitator and executive manager. He is passionate about identifying, creating and connecting strongly with ‘communities of interest’ and clients to build effective products and services that make a difference in the primary sector.
Scott has worked across tertiary education, innovative organisations in the private sector, and industry service delivery and advocacy for more than 20 years. He has also held governance and technical advisory roles in the primary sector, not for profit and community organisations.
In April 2016, he completed a decade working for the national sheep and beef industry body, Beef + Lamb New Zealand, the last 7.5 years as Chief Executive Officer. He was also concurrently Chief Executive Officer of the New Zealand Meat Board for this period.
Since May 2016, Scott has been consulting across food, agriculture and natural resources. In June 2017 he co-founded the consulting practice Primary Purpose, drawing on a mix of disciplines, and combining data and information with human centred insights for clients in the primary sector.
Scott has been Programme Director and Facilitator for the Kellogg Rural Leadership Programme since 2017.
Phil Morrison, ONZM
Phil Morrison was a Regular Force officer with the New Zealand Army for 25 years, progressing through a variety of command, staff, instructional appointments, and deployments…
Phil Morrison, ONZM
MBA Massey University
Phil Morrison was a Regular Force officer with the New Zealand Army for 25 years, progressing through a variety of command, staff, instructional appointments, and deployments.
Highlights of his army career include three years as unit commander of an Engineer Regiment, a three-year posting to Canberra as Military Attaché at the NZ High Commission, and a year studying at the Singapore Armed Forces’ Joint Command and Staff College.
From 2011 Phil worked as a Senior Lecturer and Project Manager for Massey University’s Centre for Defence and Security Studies. In this role he managed the university’s commercial relationship with the Royal Brunei Armed Forces, including programme development and delivery of teaching activities.
In recent years, Phil’s work has included delivery of leadership training, postgraduate business education in strategy and innovation, and facilitation of strategy and innovation workshops.
Phil is based in Invercargill and is a Councillor with Environment Southland for the Invercargill/Rakiura Constituency.
Phil has been a free-lance consultant since establishing Across Performance Limited in February 2014 – while concluding his MBA research at Massey University. He also co-chairs Southland’s Regional Forum, framing advice on freshwater management for the Regional Council.
Phil joined as a Facilitator for the Kellogg Rural Leadership and Value Chain Programmes in 2022. Phil holds a BA from UNSW, and MBA from Massey University.
Programme dates and cost
Based at Lincoln in Canterbury, the next Engage Programme will run 30 April to 2 May. A second programme will run 24 to 26 September 2025. The cost per participant for 2025 is to be confirmed.
Need to get your team sector-smart? Talk to Rural Leaders about designing a tailored Engage solution for your business’s needs.
Contact us to find out more about a bespoke Engage Programme.
How to apply
Applying is easy. Simply contact us by using the button below to secure a place on our next programme.
Ready to grow your knowledge, skills and confidence in agriculture?