The sustainability of agriculture and food production is based on three complementary and, at the same time, inseparable elements:
- environment – i.e. the use of sustainable farming practices that help protect its resources: soil, water, air and biodiversity;
- economics – i.e. ways of farming that are profitable for male and female farmers, providing them with the means both to develop the farm itself and to guarantee decent living conditions;
- society – it means that the way farming is carried out must be socially acceptable, both in terms of consumer expectations and the local community.
Women in agriculture
For centuries, women have been a key part of farm operations both in Poland and Europe. Today, they have a unique opportunity to support change and respond collectively to the challenges facing agriculture and to help each other succeed. Unfortunately, despite the significant role of women in agriculture, the stereotype that farming is primarily a male domain is strongly rooted in public and industry debate. In fact, a significant proportion of farms in Poland are run by women – they run, alone or jointly, one in three farms in our country.
Our activities will target different groups – with a particular focus on women. Being active in raising the attractiveness of women’s work in agriculture is a response to changing social expectations. We want to support and promote the role of women so that a career in agriculture is attractive to them, gives them satisfaction as well as the opportunity to achieve their ambitions. Besides, the career in agriculture should yield economic results appropriate to women’s competence and commitment.
The aim of the Agro Woman initiative is to make women’s work in agriculture more attractive, supporting them through substantive education in finance, business management, foreign languages, and soft skills development.
The initiative’s activities are based on three pillars:
- the economic pillar – here, we focus on women’s entrepreneurship. The first step is that we launch a mentoring programme; it will result in the development of individual development plans, including financial, business management, foreign languages and soft skills development;
- the social pillar – here, we want to focus on the rarely addressed issue of mental wellbeing, the issue of work-life balance and burnout that may all affect male and female farmers; these topics are still taboo in the rural community, and any access to provide any support in this area in rural areas is still limited;
- the environmental pillar – agriculture is currently under a lot of pressure in facing climatic, economic, geopolitical challenges or those resulting from its very model of functioning (high fragmentation of farms); sustainability is a major new issue area that needs to be addressed by agriculture in Poland; we want female farmers to take an active part in the process of change towards sustainability.
In addition, we want to act as an ambassador of promoting a positive image of women in agriculture in the media.