Agricultural skills framework: A guide to defining pathways for professional training

17 February, 2026

If you are a professional working in learning and development or training for the agriculture sector, you will know how hard it can be to keep up with the wide range of knowledge and skills that any one role requires.

Whether it’s keeping up to date with changes to agricultural practices, understanding new technologies and techniques, staying informed about shifting legislation, or adjusting for impacts from climate change, there’s a lot of ground to cover. And that’s not to mention the skills and knowledge essential for those in leadership positions or managing teams.

It’s not that there is a shortage of training options for agricultural professionals; there are plenty of online courses, workshops, webinars, videos, and coaching available. The issue is more around knowing where to begin or how the available training relates to a coherent agricultural skills framework.

Many other professions use skills and competency frameworks to help bridge this gap by turning scattered learning into a structured pathway that supports training, learning and continued professional development (CPD).

A farm worker standing in a field of crops using a computer and smart phone. — A farm worker using a computer and smart phone

What is a skills or competency framework?

A skills framework is a structured description of what people need to be able to do in a role, often across increasing levels of responsibility. In practice, a framework can help you to define what “good” looks like at different stages so you can plan training, assessment, and CPD with more precision.

If you are designing programmes, a well-designed framework gives you a practical tool for:

Self-assessment and reflection

Planning CPD and career progression

Identifying skills gaps and training needs

Designing relevant training materials and pathways

Writing job profiles and performance expectations

Why does the agriculture sector need a skills framework?

As a trainer or someone working in learning and development team, your role probably requires you to design learning experiences that are:

Relevant to day-to-day work

Scalable across roles and career stages

Measurable (so progress is visible and motivating)

Without a shared framework, learning plans can drift toward what is available rather than what can make an impact in a professional setting. Competency frameworks are widely used in other sectors because they make performance expectations clearer, and link development activity to your organisation’s goals.¹

How the Skills for Agriculture Framework works

CABI’s Skills for Agriculture Framework (SfA) adapts this approach for agriculture. It can be used to help you:

Provide a set of core skill descriptions that are specific to the agriculture sector

Break skills down, up to seven levels of responsibility, to reflect the degree to which skills are relevant to different job levels and within different role requirements

Bring skills into an interactive, practical and dynamic format

Find courses and training material relevant to each skill

Unlike skills and competency frameworks that remain static in PDFs, or buried in academic literature, the SfA allows you to actively direct skill development by asking:

“Which skill, and at which level, needs building next?”

Why skills frameworks fit the way adults learn

Research shows that adults learn more effectively when:

Expectations are clear

Learning is relevant to real-world tasks

Learners can set their own goals²

When using a skills framework to plan training activities for adult learners, this means:

Clear targets to support motivation

Framework levels make expectations visible. This reduces ambiguity and supports deliberate practice, helping learners recognise what “good” looks like at their career stage.

Structured goal setting

When paired with a self-assessment, frameworks can be used to encourage learners to compare current practice against a commonly agreed standard. This approach can help to identify gaps and set well-defined goals.

More meaningful CPD choices

Frameworks that link specific skills and levels to training can be used to direct CPD decision-making³, helping learners select training activities that match their own career direction.

How Learning and Design teams can use the SfA in practice

When working with others to develop skills in the agriculture sector, the SfA can function as a curriculum backbone, supporting the design and direction of training and learning pathways:

Build a curriculum map that matches real roles

Select relevant skills from the SfA
Define the target level of responsibility for the individual or learner group
Align learning outcomes and assessment tasks to the chosen level descriptors
Direct users to relevant courses mapped to those skills within the SfA
Measure outcomes from training activities against the skill level descriptors

2. Improve training needs analysis

Ask learners to use the self-assessment tool to place themself or their team against the SfA descriptors
Analyse results to identify priority skill gaps by role/team
Target training activities where it will improve job performance

3. Support informed career development conversations

Framework levels make progression discussable. This supports managers to move beyond general feedback toward specific and well-defined targets.

How can the SfA support your training plans?

Use the Skills for Agriculture Framework to map learning outcomes, design structured training pathways, and support CPD planning. Join our working group to shape the future development of the framework. If you would like to take part, please email us at academy@cabi.org to express your interest.

Using digital tools to support smarter, more sustainable farming

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is an agricultural skills framework?

An agricultural skills framework is a structured system that defines the knowledge, skills, and competencies needed across different roles in the agriculture sector. It breaks down capabilities into clear levels of responsibility, helping organizations plan training, assess performance, and support career development in a consistent way.

How does a skills framework differ from a training course?

A training course teaches specific content. The framework helps you identify which skills need development and at what level, then directs learners to relevant courses and resources that match those needs.

Who should use an agricultural skills framework?

Agricultural skills frameworks are valuable for learning and development professionals, training managers, HR teams, agricultural advisors, extension services, and anyone responsible for workforce development in the agriculture sector. They are equally useful for individual professionals planning their own career progression.

What are the benefits of using a competency framework in agriculture?

A competency framework helps identify skill gaps more accurately, ensures training is relevant to job requirements, provides clear progression pathways, makes performance expectations visible, and connects professional development to organizational goals. It transforms scattered learning into structured career development.