Ottawa, ON – Twelve international Nuffield Scholars celebrated a Canadian Thanksgiving in Winnipeg before kicking off their five-week whirlwind tour of six countries on four continents. It is called the Global Focus Program (GFP) and it’s part of the Nuffield Scholarship experience.
The group of GFP Nuffield Scholars is comprised of eight men and four women from Australia (3), Brazil, Chile, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Romania, USA and Zimbabwe. Together they will travel to Canada, Scotland, Italy, Spain, India and Australia to develop an understanding of local and international agricultural best practices and meet with progressive businesses, organizations and governments. Scholars investigate agricultural marketing, trade, and environmental issues, and experience different social and cultural aspects of each region. This GFP is one of six being offered, each with different seasonal timing and countries examined.
“The Global Focus Program exposes scholars to a myriad of agricultural leaders, cultures, environments and politics across the globe,” explains organizer Ryan Boyd who is a 2019 Nuffield Scholars and Secretary- Treasurer of Nuffield Canada. “Scholars return home with many innovative ideas and renewed energy to propel their respective industries forward.”
In Canada, the Scholars arrived on Oct. 12 and were welcomed to Winnipeg with a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and guest speaker Les Kletke, a 1994 Nuffield Canada Scholar and author of “Riding the Bus with the Chickens”.
Visits have been arranged to Manitoba Starch Products, MBFI Research Farm, Heartland Livestock Services, and a farm tour hosted by Clayton Robins (Sch. 2013) in Rivers, MB. They will then continue on to Regina, SK for meetings with Farm Credit Canada before departing on Oct. 16 for Scotland.