Casa Gutier, Valgenetics, Ricardo Oteros and Mariló Corral, Mujer Agro 2018 awards

More than 100 representatives of the Spanish agri-food sector yesterday wrapped up the winners in the first edition of the Mujer Agro awards, an initiative developed by the communication agency Siete Agromarketing and the e-Commerce Agrario, which recognizes those people, entities and institutions that stand out for their task when it comes to achieving equal opportunities between men and women in the sector, promoting in turn the work of women in agriculture.

In this gala, held in the assembly hall of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and which had the support of Cajamar, Onubafrut and Compo Expert, was awarded, within the category “Entrepreneurship” Casa Gutier, for its contribution to economic development local of a company dedicated to the production of high quality meat. The prize was collected by the entrepreneur Carolina Fernández, alma mater of this initiative. In the “Company” category, the award went to the Valencian company Valgenetics, dedicated to the provision of R & D services to the agricultural sector in health and plant improvement and which has 75% of women in its workforce based on the talent of your workers Ricardo Oteros, general director of Supracafé, was recognized in the category “Man” for its commitment to the coffee growers of the Cauca region, in Colombia, after developing various initiatives to support local populations. Finally, Mariló Corral, president of the Cooperativa “La Esperanza del Campo, of Cuevas del Campo (Granada), received the honorary” Mujer Agro “award for her commitment and permanent dedication to the issues of equal opportunities within the agri-food cooperatives.

The four winners recognized the importance of these awards to make visible the work of professional women in this sector. In fact, these awards aim to highlight the figure of women in positions of responsibility in the agri-food sector and are part of Mujer Agro, “a project created in 2017 that is born from the efforts and work of this entrepreneur, so that the sector has a meeting point for reflection and to advance towards equal opportunities “, in the words of Gissele Falcón, General Director of Siete Agromarketing.

For its part, the Assistant Director General of Rural Environment Promotion of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and member of the jury of these awards, Carolina Gutiérrez Ansótegui, highlighted the high training and qualification of women who have presented themselves as candidates for these awards and emphasized “the impulse of shared ownership and the fight against depopulation”. Integrate equality policies within the CAP Silvia Buabent, director of the Women’s Institute and for Equal Opportunities, also participated in the event. She stressed that “it is a challenge for the country to support rural women, since 90% of the population lives in rural areas.” Under this prism and that of the common agricultural policy, a round table was held during the course of the awards ceremony, which under the title “Gender equality policies within the future CAP” highlighted the need to integrate the policies of equality within the CAP, at a time when the future norm that governs European agricultural policies is being revised. Clara Aguilera, socialist deputy in the European Parliament, stressed that “the CAP has not dealt with women until now. In this reform there is an objective shared by all the political groups of adopting concrete measures in favor of rural women “.

José Luis Castellano, general technical secretary of Rural Development and Sustainability of the Government of Aragon and Jerónima Bonafé, President of the Association of Women of Agri-Food Cooperatives of Spain (AMCAE), agreed on the fact that there is still a long way to go. to go, starting from the basis that equality policies have not been integrated into the first pillar of the CAP.

The award ceremony was moderated by the journalist and presenter Inés Ballester and the agrifood journalist Álvaro Bárez.

During the closing ceremony, it was announced that the III National Forum of Agro-Professional Women will take place this year in Córdoba in June. In addition, the call for the Second Edition of the Women’s Agro Awards will open next April.