AgDiversity is the first and only bespoke diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) course in the UK agricultural sector. It’s been spearheaded by IVC Evidensia regional head of farm Navaratnam Partheeban, a leading DEI advocate, and it follows on from his Nuffield Farming Scholarship published last year.
It involved travelling all across the UK and USA to study the barriers to and opportunities for increasing the numbers of people who identify as Black or a Person of Colour (BPOC) in agriculture.
AgDiversity began being rolled out in October 2024 and IVC Evidensia intend to be pioneers, not just in the farm vet world but throughout UK agriculture.
“IVC Evidensia Farm has committed to getting everyone in this side of the business to do the course,” said Navaratnam. “We will be leaders in diversity, equity and inclusion and show the sector how an organisation can fully embrace this.”
The agriculture sector is the least diverse in the UK with only around 1 percent of BPOC people, despite making up an estimated 17 percent of the general population.
Navaratnam co-founded the British Veterinary Ethnicity and Diversity Society in 2016, working to facilitate change in the profession initially and then the agriculture sector more generally.
Although he began his veterinary life at a farm practice in Wales, he left for a time to move into the pharmaceutical and then higher education sectors as he experienced significant issues.
“From university on, I was almost always the only person like me,” said Navaratnam. “Farm vetting was very isolated, and I reached a point where no matter my experience, people judged my abilities based on how I looked.
“I felt I had no support from clinicians or the profession. With that as a barrier, I couldn’t see a future and left to work in industry where there was diversity and also relevant processes in place.”
His latest initiative is AgDiversity, a bespoke online course created specifically for those involved in agricultural, rural and land-based industries.
It consists of three very accessible and relevant modules which will take a maximum of one-and-a-half hours to complete. Costing £30, the lowest cost of any openly available course of its kind, it’s open to anyone wishing to learn more about DEI.
Users who complete the course will receive a certificate and have the opportunity to be listed on the AgDiversity Participant Database, supported by the Frank Parkinson Agricultural Trust.
The database will be available on the Nuffield Farming website to help students, job seekers and others to identify farms and businesses that are investing in DEI awareness as a positive signal to those from underrepresented groups in search of a place to work.
“There is such a lack of knowledge about diversity and inclusion, and we all have in-built biases,” added Navaratnam. “This course was created to bring awareness and understanding into the sector.
“Change has been happening, but it’s not fast enough. There are a lot of young people wanting to come into the farm sector and their diversity is changing.
“We need a sector that will make them feel like they belong, and if that’s not the case we’ll never recruit and retain the vets we need.
“I’m delighted that IVC Evidensia is at the forefront of bringing about that change.”
AgDiversity has been launched by Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust sponsored by McDonald’s UK and Ireland and The School of Sustainable Food & Farming at Harper Adams University. The programme is also being supported by AHDB and the Frank Parkinson Agricultural Trust. You can find more information about IVC Evidensia Farm here.
