Henry Matthews grew up a farm in the Rodings in Essex which he went on to manage for 20 years. Alongside this he taught and carried out consultancies in former Soviet States.

He has a BSc in Modern History and Economics and an MSc in Agribusiness for Development. When the family farm was sold he became a partner in a Ukrainian farming business which ended in 2012. Consultancy has taken him to over 20 countries across Eastern Europe, Africa, South America and Central Asia where he is now working on an FAO project concerned with organic value chains.

Henry has worked at Writtle since 2002 and is the current agriculture course manager. He was part of the team that developed the first UK degree course in Regenerative Agriculture which was launched in 2020. He has recently worked with the Landworkers Alliance on the DEFRA funded Scaling Up program. He is a council member of the Institute of Agricultural Management and belongs to the Worshipful Company of Fruiterers.