CYMREG
Resilient Green Spaces – Building Horticultural Future Farming Skills
Inspiration, education and training are key to sustaining the future of local food.
More people in Wales are showing interest in commercial food growing, so the right training is crucial for the next generation of growers.
Aims
- To map existing horticulture training provision and current sector needs
- To provide appropriate training and support for people in edible horticulture
- To counter negative perceptions of horticultral farming careers
Partners
- Social Farms & Gardens
- Lantra
- Land Workers' Alliance Cymru
- Cardiff University
- Cae Tan Community Supported Agriculture project
Outcomes
Cardiff University, Lantra and Landworkers Alliance delivered a pilot Future Farmer traineeship to 27 trainees working/volunteering on agroecological farms. The accredited programme delivered a mixture of online training, weekend site visits, mentoring and bespoke training. Through the project, the team were able to test solutions to some barriers faced by new entrant farmers.
The programme trialled:
- Childcare funding to enable new entrants to attend study visits
- 'Train the trainer' - experienced growers training the next generation for quality assurance
- Bespoke training such as medicinal plants and tractor driving to allow specialisation
- A hybrid approach to increase accessibility
- An eight-month course with one cohort to encourage networking
- Course accreditation to increase employability
- Operating alongside other schemes (eg. Kickstarter) to finance trainee roles on farm
Resources
Watch a video about careers in growing produced as part of the project.
> Read our 2022 report on horticulture training and sector needs
Contact us
If you'd like to know more about our work across Wales, please email [email protected]
To find out about training in horticultural food production, please contact Landworkers Alliance or Lantra.
About Resilient Green Spaces
Building Horticultral Future Farming Skills was one of six strands of work in the Resilient Green Spaces project. See our Resilient Green Spaces overview to find out more.
Resilient Green Spaces is funded through the Welsh Government Rural Communities - Rural Development Programme 2014-2020, which is funded by the Welsh Government and the European Union.
Events
Includes our own training events and workshops, and selected events and training run by organisations in the sector we think might be relevant. We aim to share the buzz and keep you informed.