“The agro-professional woman is the one that will mark the future of the field”

Talent, visibility, inclusion, diversity and empowerment. These have been the most repeated words in the III National Forum for Women Agro-Professionals that took place this Tuesday in the city of Córdoba, and that has placed the spotlight on the need for agro-professional women to reclaim their space as an entrepreneur, leader and directive, with capacity to make decisions on equal terms, in a world, rural, masculinized and aged. “It is true that in some agrarian sectors, women are inheriting family farms, but it is man who is making the business leap. Therefore, reversing this gender gap is the responsibility of everyone, of administrations and private companies. And while that inequality exists, policies of positive discrimination will be necessary, because neutral policies increase that gap “: With these words, Mrs. Isabel Bombal, General Director of Rural Development, Innovation and Forest Policy of MAPA, closed the event, an act that began with the presence of Araceli Cabello, Territorial Delegate for Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Sustainable Development of the Junta de Andalucía in Córdoba.

In his opening speech, Cabello remarked “that the agri-food sector is not a world of men, but a world where there are more men, so we must fight, commit and take a step forward to achieve real equality.”

On the other hand, Gissèle Falcón, CEO of Siete Agromarketing, an entity together with eComercio Agrario, organizer of the event, stressed that the Mujer Agro project seeks to make women’s leadership visible: “It’s not about competing with men or leading like them , I think we have to take advantage of the differences to add value to our projects. It is precisely what Agro Woman is pursuing, to work in parity, globality, that is why this year she bears the motto: More than Equality. “

Francisco de la Torre, Head of the Agrarian Service of Cajasur, also wanted to highlight the Equality Plans in this entity are in force, as well as the specific assistance from Cajasur are being carried out to achieve a greater number of holdings under the ownership Shared

The event was moderated by two communication experts, Ana I. Sánchez, agrifood journalist and Food Cooperatives Communication Manager of Andalucía and Carlos Pizá de Silva, Economic Correspondent Journalist in Andalusia of El Confidencial.

The first of the dialogue tables that has been developed under the title: “Woman and Olive grove as talent, visibility and empowerment”, where María Miró Arias, 1948 Oleum Manager, participated; Francisca García, General Secretary. D.O.P Priego de Córdoba; Mari Carmen Baena Calvo, President of the Cooperativa Almazara de Luque and partner of AMCAE-Andalucía; Elena López Cano, Producer and Responsible for olive growing in Fademur Córdoba and Blanca Torrent, General Director of Aceitunas Torrent. As a conclusion, the olive sector is one of the largest female presence, where women to be visible must show ambition and desire, for which training and empowerment are key.

The second table has addressed the importance of “Women as a social and digital transformer”, with the participation of Carmen Quintero Morales, General Secretary of COAG Córdoba; Rosa Gallardo, Director of the Higher Technical School of Agronomists and Forests at the University of Córdoba; Ana Maldonado, Marketing Manager at Hispatec Analytics and Gema Jiménez Hernández, Executive Director FooDepartment at San Telmo Business School. Throughout this table the problem of digitizing the rural world has been highlighted, which represents a great barrier to the work of agrarian women, as well as the need for men to give space to women in high positions. address, what Carmen Quintero has called “the sticky floor”.

After a break for coffee and after the intervention of Pilu Velver, singer-songwriter, the session was resumed with the round table: “Communication and Agri-Food Journalism with a gender perspective”, with the experience of Lourdes Zuriaga, President of APAE ( Agrifood Journalists Association of Spain); Nerea Lerchundi, Director of Communication Cooperatives Agro – alimentary of Spain; and María José Bayo, Journalist and Adviser of Radio Televisión de Andalucía (RTVA-Canal Sur) and President in Andalucía of the International Business Women Association (IBWomen). Three deluxe speakers who stressed that what is not communicated does not exist, agreeing on the need for women agro-professionals must strive to become more visible, while it is necessary to use an inclusive language without excess. “All the words related to the sector: food, agriculture, fishing, livestock … are feminine,” said Lourdes Zuriaga.

The debate of the fourth table, has revolved around the need for minimum quotas of representation in the management bodies of companies, at least, as noted by Marta Ereza Diaz, Head of the Gender Unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock , Fishing and Sustainable Development of the Junta de Andalucía and Isabel Bombal, Director General of Rural Development, Innovation and Forestry Policy of MAPA, until there is real equality. Marta Ereza has highlighted the need for equality plans, as well as monitoring them to know if they are well prepared, whether they are implemented or not, and punish if necessary. On the other hand, Juan José Lunar Villarreal, Director of Human Resources of Covap and Mercedes Mª Sánchez, Head of the Agrarian Technical Unit of Jaén de Cajasur have detailed the Equality Plans that they carry out in their respective entities, plans with clear objectives, and with the conviction that they contribute to achieving more than equality in rural areas.

Closing

Isabel Bombal has been in charge of closing the event, placing special emphasis on the different policies that the Ministry of Agriculture has been developing in the previous term, with a clear continuing intention for the next government. “The gender perspective will be included in all the aid lines of the Ministry,” said the Director General of Rural Development, Innovation and Forestry Policy of MAPA.

Sponsors

As a project of great importance at the national level, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Sustainable Development of the Junta de Andalucía actively supports and participates in this 3rd Forum of Agro-Professional Women. Along with it, entities such as COVAP, CAJASUR, AEFA, ONUBAFRUIT, DEMOAGRO SPECIALTY and JOHN DEERE, are sponsors of this third edition.
Contributors

In addition, as collaborators, Cooperatives Agro-alimentary of Andalusia, AMCAE – Andalusia (Association of Women of Agricultural Cooperatives of Andalusia), COAG Andalusia, Ceres Andalusia, Higher Technical School of Agricultural Engineers and Forestry (ETSIAM), Technological Platform. Food For Life Spain (PTF4LS) UPA Andalucía, Fademur, Priego de Córdoba PDO, together with the Association for the Promotion of Fruit and Vegetable Consumption 5 a Day.

Media Partner

As an event that seeks to add synergy and give visibility to women agroprofessional, have joined as Media Parnert: Joly Group, Fruittoday, Interempresas, Integral Media, Eca OLIVE and Agricultural Notebook.