Just 10% of beneficiaries of Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) direct payments in the Republic of Ireland are women.
This stark figure was highlighted by Sinéad McPhillips – assistant secretary general at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine – at a Ceres Network event in the Killashee Hotel, Naas, Co. Kildare, this week.
McPhillips – who spoke alongside UCD lecturer Dr. Monica Gorman and Ornua CEO John Jordan as part of a panel discussion on ‘Striking the Gender Balance in Irish Agri-Food’ – played a lead role in the formation of the inter-departmental National Strategy for Women and Girls 2017-2020.
Addressing the room, McPhillips highlighted how the country’s agri-business and agri-food sector was a “big focus” of the strategy, as it “wasn’t performing up to the standard” when compared to other sectors.
She also outlined the gender track record at the Department of Agriculture.
“In agri-business we had a very low number of women on boards and low numbers of women in leadership. So there was a focus externally on ‘what are you doing wrong and how can you improve?’
“Diversity and inclusion strategies need to be integrated into the overall strategy for the sector.”
The audience was reminded that in 2012 the Department of Agriculture was “the worst-performing” Government department in terms of gender balance.
“At that time only 11% of senior managers were female.
We are now headed for 30% female representation at senior level; but I would still argue that there is no room for complacency.
“We developed a number of agri-food specific targets as part of the National Women and Girls Strategy and we then adopted these into the Food Wise strategy and reporting framework to avoid the silo effect,” said McPhillips.
It was emphasised that practical steps can be taken to improve on and encourage the recognition of women in the sector – from the farm to the boardroom.
“If a business is seen as ‘not inclusive’, it is not going to be considered as ‘an employer of choice’.
“You are not going to attract the best people – they are just going to go elsewhere. That really is the perfect platform for improving gender balance in any sector or any organisation,” she said.
McPhillips also pointed to the achievement of the Government-supported ACORNS programme – an initiative focused on developing the potential of female entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland.
The metrics
Improving on the reportage of women in agriculture statistics was another key message.
McPhillips said: “It needs to be a more visible issue; therefore people are more attuned to it.”
“As it stands 10% or 11% of farms in Ireland are in women’s names; about 2% of farms are in joint names. There are other percentages in farm partnerships, but it’s very low.
So only 10% of CAP payments are going to women.
“If you take that from a gender budgeting perspective, there are very few other areas of public expenditure where 90% of public funding is going to one gender – that really is a platform for change,” she said.
Explaining the rationale behind the event, Roberta McDonald, the chair of Ceres, said: “Unconscious bias plays a key role in creating a lack of balance or equality in our industry.
“Having discussions like today helps to create awareness of these issues and start a conversation.
Buy-in from senior leadership is a key component to encouraging change and we are delighted to hear from a panel of inspirational leaders from across the sector.
“We need champions promoting the value of conversations like this, overcoming any discomfort or unconscious bias when it comes to discussions on gender balance,” said McDonald.
What is Ceres?
Ceres, the women in agri-business leadership network, was founded to develop and promote leadership and diverse thinking within the industry.
Through the delivery of a range of dynamic and engaging events, the network aims to provide a platform for knowledge sharing, collaboration and peer support.
The group was founded by ten leading female professionals from diverse backgrounds within the sector including: academia; consulting and agri-business.
The network is named after Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture and growth, known as the protector of the land and its products.