The Cranfield University School of Management offers a unique MBA scholarship for innovators in agricultural management. The scholarship shows the school’s commitment to a sustainable global food supply.
The Worshipful Company of Farmers Scholarship (WCFS) awards students who are interested in affecting change in agricultural management in the UK and globally.
The £35,000 ($39,000 USD) scholarship covers the candidates’ tuition, and it is offered via a partnership with the Agrifarm Charitable Foundation. The WCFS is available to those who have a background in farming, as well as those who demonstrate an interest in management innovation in the industry.
Cranfield is highly reputed for its close partnership with the UK agricultural industry, and researchers and faculty at the University are known as experts in national and international food supply chain management. The intersection of ecology and business, from renewable farming methods to point of sale strategy, is at the heart of the program’s curriculum. Professor Muhammad Azam Roomi, Ph.D is one faculty researcher at the forefront of the program’s development.
Dr. Roomi recently published a study entitled “Entrepreneurship: A Kiss of Life for the UK Farming Sector?” Roomi and his co-authors assert, “…More entrepreneurial farms are more profitable. This is evidenced from academic research. If this is so, there is scope for the UK farming industry to learn lessons and improve its returns as a result.”
Sarah Wells is a business support manager at Countrywide Farmers, a company that supplies rural farmers with products and guidance. Wells is a past recipient of the WCFS. She said of her experience, “I’ve always known that I wanted a career in agriculture and I’m keen to demonstrate that… It’s really interesting that other students on the course are surprised by just how sophisticated and well developed agriculture needs to be, and has become.”