Three men

Introduction

The overall aim of the Supply Chain programme is to support farmers working together, and with others, to improve the rewards from their supply chain.

  • It provides expert guidance and financial assistance for the formation and development of new and existing groups with a focus on marketing. Groups do not need to be formally constituted to apply.
  • Groups of farmers with partners further along their respective supply chains in the common agri-food, horticulture, forestry and renewable energy sectors are eligible to apply. Groups must consist of two or more businesses.

Supply Chain Development - An Overview

The Supply Chain Development (SCD) programme seeks to improve the marketing of agricultural produce through developing a culture of collaboration between producers, processors and stakeholders.

The postholder will be responsible for the delivery of the project objectives including : "To increase the number of successful new collaborative initiatives in the agri-food sector which will lead to more effective and sustainable supply chains".

The SCD programme is primarily aimed at early stage enterprises/projects (producers, farmers and food producers) which have not yet developed relationships with their supply chain partners. It seeks to move them to a stage where they are confident to adopt new supply chain processes and offers the opportunity to gain greater knowledge in relation to what processors and retailers are looking for in order to satisfy the market for their product. This will be achieved by a team of experienced Facilitators and managed by the Project Manager acting as Lead Facilitator.

A feeder scheme to encourage individuals to come together to form enterprises will empower and equip the group with the skills to submit quality and innovative applications to the core SCD programme. The Project Manager will be expected to develop and have hands-on involvement in running this feeder programme.

The SCD measure includes a study tours element which will provide a platform for networking and will give producers an opportunity to promote their product to a wider market. Further support provided to groups will include training and Specialist Mentoring, business tools, and co-operation support.

The budget allocated to this measure is £1.99M.