The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) was a United Kingdom government department created by the Board of Agriculture Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 30) and at that time called the Board of Agriculture, and then from 1903 the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, and from 1919 the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries. It attained its final name in 1955 with the addition of responsibilities for the British food industry to the existing responsibilities for agriculture and the fishing industry, a name that lasted until the Ministry was dissolved in 2002, at which point its responsibilities had been merged into the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Until the Food Standards Agency was created, the Ministry was responsible for both food production and food safety which was seen by some to give rise to a conflict of interest. The Ministry was scrutinised by the Agriculture Select Committee.
Background The Board of Agriculture, which later become the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF), was established under the Board of Agriculture Act 1889. It was preceded, however, by an earlier Board of Agriculture, founded by royal charter on 23 August 1793 as the Board or Society for the Encouragement of Agriculture and Internal Improvement, which lasted until it was dissolved in June 1822. Though its founders hoped the board would become a department of state it was never more than a private society which spread useful knowledge and encouraged improvements in farming. A significant predecessor of the second Board of Agriculture (later MAFF) was the Tithe Commission, which was set up in 1841 under the Tithe Commutation Act 1836 and amalgamated with the Enclosure Commissioners and the Copyhold Commissioners to become the Lord Commissioners for England and Wales under the Settled Land Act 1882, responsible to the Home Secretary, which became the Land Department of the new Board of Agriculture in 1889. Another predecessor was the Cattle Plague Department, set up by the Home Office to deal with an outbreak of rinderpest in London in June 1865. This was renamed the Veterinary Department of the Privy Council in 1869 and became part of the new Board of Agriculture in 1889.
Board of Agriculture
The Board of Agriculture Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 30), passed on 12 August, established the Board of Agriculture and combined all government responsibilities for agricultural matters in one department. The first President of the new board was the Rt. Hon. Henry Chaplin, the initial staffing was set at ninety people, and the first annual estimate was for £55,000 (£5,000 of which was intended as a grant for agricultural and dairy schools). From 1892 to 1913, its secretary, the most senior civil servant, was Sir Thomas Elliott.
The board took responsibility for the Ordnance Survey in 1890, and it took responsibility for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in 1903. Also in 1903, the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries Act 1903 (3 Edw. 7. c. 31) was passed to transfer certain powers and duties relating to the fishing industry from the Board of Trade to what then became the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries. In 1904, the board appointed honorary agricultural correspondents throughout the country to liaise with the Board on Regional Matters and to give advice to farmers. In 1911, responsibility for all agricultural matters in Scotland except animal health was transferred to a newly created Board of Agriculture for Scotland. Meanwhile, the country was increasingly becoming dependent on imported food. By 1914, the output of home-grown food only met one-third of the country's needs.
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
