Nuffield International

Nuffield International

The Nuffield Farming Scholarship started in the aftermath of the Second World War by Lord Nuffield, industrialist and philanthropist.

Lord Nuffield initiated a travelling scholarship scheme for British and Empire farmers. The reason was twofold – to recognise their contribution to feeding the nation through the war and as a method of advancing best practice in agriculture around the world.

The first two scholars were selected in 1947. Jane Kenyon and Edward Stokes from the UK paved the way for some 1000 scholars from eight participating countries that have since travelled the world studying the best agricultural practice, wherever it may be.

Nuffield International Member Countries

From Brussels to Washington, from the rice fields of Asia to the fantastically productive farmlands in the Americas, and to the most sophisticated and technologically-advanced farming in Europe, Nuffield scholars have created an unrivalled network of agriculturalists at the leading edge of their profession worldwide.

Each year, the nine countries now participating in the scheme award more than 70 scholarships to emerging agriculture leaders. All newly selected scholars meet at the Contemporary Scholars Conference to exchange experience and knowledge and gain understanding of agriculture of the host nation and globally.

Members countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Zimbabwe.

Associate countries: Chile, Japan, South Africa, United States.

The International Organisation

Nuffield International is a non-profit organisation with a governance board made up of a representative of each member country and two independent appointees. The organisation coordinates activities and provides support to the member countries. These countries manage their own agricultural scholarship programmes annually to build the most important resource in agriculture – leaders.

Each country’s scholarship programme is funded by contributions from their investing partners including agribusinesses and primary sector organisations.

Our programmes work in partnership with some of New Zealand’s leading agribusiness organisations – click here for more.​