As autumn has well and truly set in here in our part of the world and we celebrate International Day of Rural Women, we have a brand new magazine to present and announced the winners of the third edition of the Women in Ag Awards. I couldn’t think of a more fitting date for both.
Achieving gender equality and empowering women in agriculture is not just the right thing to do, it is also a potential solution to world hunger, poverty and climate change. Yes, I said – or rather wrote – it. Don’t believe me, head over to the United Nations website: you’ll see that I always carefully check my sources before I make bold statements.
According to the United Nations, women are responsible for half of the world’s food production. Read that again. Half of our food is brought to your plate thanks to women. In a world where women are far from the equals of men in agriculture and discrimination and racism are rampant, imagine the possibilities if our industry were truly inclusive. The traditional view on women (in agriculture) is one of the factors that made us particularly resilient and able to adapt quickly to changing situations. This is why – still according to the UN – women have learned to cope with and adapt to climate change by implementing sustainable agriculture such as water-saving solutions, low-impact soil management or community-based reforestation and restoration efforts. Furthermore, women of colour and indigenous women have fought to bring invaluable ancestral knowledge and practices, often crucial in the effort of environmental conservation, back in our farming practice and advocating for food justice. Women like Karen Washington, whom we had the honour to interview for our March issue, my co-juror Sheila Zulu, black rancher Rizpah Bellard (you will read her story in this issue), Agro Queen Maanda Elizabeth Sianga and many, many more, are truly leading the way. They deserve a mobilisation of all women in agriculture to amplify their voices, so that they can rest and focus on healing or helping their communities.
According to various reports, climate change has a more pronounced impact on women, primarily indigenous women, whose agricultural dependence, living conditions and marginalization expose them to a greater degree of changes due to climate, loss of diversity and pollution. These women are already fighting to exist in a men’s world. Let’s give them breathing space so that we can advance together as a community.
As co-founder of the Women in Ag Awards alongside the DLG (German Agricultural Society), I was tremendously proud to not only see the diversity in our participants (107 entries from 34 countries) but also in our jury. A jury that was, like me, determined to promote that diversity and give everyone a fair chance to be heard. I know there is still a lot of work to be done, and I will probably make mistakes or overlook things that matter. If I do, please let me know. Tell me what I can do to do better.
To you, my readers, I would ask the same question Karen asked me months ago: when you go to a farm, a factory or a tradeshow, you might already be counting the women. Keep doing that, but now count how many of those women look like you. Don’t feel bad, just notice. If we all start there, it’ll go a long way towards realizing where we can help.
We are an amazing community as women in agriculture and men supporting us. I can’t tell you how happy it made me each time an Important Man™ from a Big Company™ came to me to ask how his brand could help, point me to a woman deserving of a platform in my magazine or support the women in ag movement in some other way. I appreciate you so much, you know who you are. Thank you.
Let’s keep up the good work and promote women’s work as food providers, stewards of the land and protectors of the environment. Let’s demand their participation in decision-making within their communities. Let’s promote rural areas where women can have the same opportunities as men. And let’s hear them when they need to be heard. As women, as men, as farmers, as an agricultural community ready for the future.
Click here to read the magazine
