Introduction to AHDB
The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board is a Non Departmental Public Body established under the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board Order 2008. It became operational on 1 April 2008
We are a statutory levy-funded organisation that serves the sectors of meat and livestock (cattle, sheep and pigs) in England; commercial horticulture, milk and potatoes in Great Britain; cereals and oilseeds in the UK.
Our purpose (as defined in the AHDB Order 2008) is:
increasing efficiency or productivity in the industry;
improving marketing in the industry;
improving or developing services that the industry provides or could provide to the community;
improving the ways in which the industry contributes to sustainable development.
Our vision for the agriculture and horticulture sectors in the UK is of a,
"thriving and sustainable sector, responding effectively to change."
Our mission is to,
"provide to the agriculture and horticulture sectors cost-effective, relevant services, which support the sectors long-term sustainability."
Levies raised from each sector can only be used to the benefit of that specific sector, and the responsibility for setting and delivering the strategies to deploy the levy income we collect is delegated to the boards of our six sector organisations:
The six sector strategies along with activity plans and performance targets are contained in the three-year AHDB Business Plan, updated yearly.
AHDB has the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) as its sponsoring Government department. A Management Statement and Financial Memorandum sets out the broad framework within which AHDB and Defra are required to operate in their relationship:
Openness
The Board of AHDB embraces the principles of openness and is committed to publishing information on this website about its board meetings, its corporate plan and its annual performance. It is developing a Publications Scheme as part of its compliance with the Freedom of Information Act (2000) and this will sign-post people to a wide range of information published by AHDB and its sector organisations.