Vivienne Harris
My passion for food and farming stems from growing up in a livestock farming family in Monmouthshire, South Wales. I went on to undertake a BSc in Agri-Food Production Marketing and Management from Harper Adams, graduating in 2005, followed by an MSc in Meat Science at Bristol University in 2006. Over the past two decades, I’ve built a career in the food industry managing, developing, and supporting agricultural livestock supply chains and then in 2022 I joined UK retailer M&S as Agriculture Manager. I live in rural Wiltshire with my border terrier, Bertie.
I believe the agricultural industry has a vital role to play in delivering environmental benefits while strengthening the sector’s resilience. Through my Nuffield Scholarship, I’ll be exploring if and how regenerative agriculture can be scaled effectively across the UK.
Building resilience: Can the UK develop regenerative agriculture supply chains at scale?
The Food Chain Scholarship
Study Overview
The past year marked a significant point in climate history with 2024 reported as the warmest year on record with the UK Agriculture industry facing into challenges of heatwaves, drought, flooding and extreme rainfall. Regenerative farming plays a critical role in building resilience by restoring ecosystems, reducing input dependence, and equipping farms to better withstand climate and market shocks. It has the ability to enhance the resilience of mainstream agriculture as well as importantly protecting food security.
Regenerative farming is growing but currently plays a relatively niche part in mainstream agriculture, though it is moving from the margins as its influence is increasing due to environmental necessity, corporate sustainability goals and an increasing consumer demand for sustainable products. The question is now how we develop regenerative supply chains at commercial scale to build agricultural resilience whilst maintaining food production.
The Nuffield scholarship will explore Is it feasible to scale regenerative agriculture, how can the supply chains be developed in the UK and what are the opportunities and risks for farmers, processors, retailers, and consumers?