General

Amada de Salas, a rural entrepreneur and member of the Spanish Living Lab within the Grass Ceiling project, has been nominated as one of the eight women in the running for the Mujer 2024 award at the 7th annual MujerAGRO Awards.

De Salas is a winegrower from Castile and León region, owning a dryland cereal and vineyard farm in Dueñas (Palencia). She also manages the family winery, where they process grapes and sell wine. “My main responsibilities include task planning, staff coordination, and winery management. Within the winery, I am responsible for tasks related to enological decision-making and wine tastings, as well as providing personalised attention to wine tourism visitors,” explains De Salas in her presentation within the Grass Ceiling project.

Recently, Amada de Salas joined, together with eight other women from various European countries, the 2nd Showcase Event of women-led rural enterprises, held in Vilnius, Lithuania, and organised by Grass Ceiling project. During her participation, she showcased the core principles of her innovative approach: integrating primary production, processing, and distribution, covering all stages of the food chain; conserving ancestral knowledge adapted to current market demands; complementing agricultural activity with wine tourism; and committing to rural development through active participation in fairs, conferences, and other promotional events.

However, her journey has not been without its challenges. These include barriers to entrepreneurship in rural communities due to an ageing population and, at times, a lack of interest in improvement; operating within an individualistic social context that doesn’t always foster synergies through cooperatives or associations; excessive bureaucracy that reduces the time available for productive activities; the difficulty for traditional family businesses to compete with large multinational corporations; a scarcity of sufficient incentives for medium- and long-term investments, coupled with high taxation; and a lack of qualified personnel for jobs related to agriculture and tourism.

Despite these obstacles, De Salas has a clear vision: “My goal has always been to strike a balance between ancestral wisdom and the demands of today’s society. Authenticity in agricultural production should be an inspiration as we move towards the future. We have a social responsibility to preserve our agricultural heritage for the sake of future generations.”

The women finalists represent sectors such as wine growing, plant nutrition, olive growing, livestock farming, rural development, beekeeping, and education.

De Salas’ candidacy competes with those of Camino García de Morentín, Christina Fischer Aguirre, Esther Ferrero González, Macarena Díaz González, Matilde Esteo Domínguez, Raquel Adalid Botía and Rosa Gallardo Cobos.

As stated by the MujerAGRO award organisers, “today, being a woman and a role model for others in the field of equality is of exceptional value. It is these women who, with great capacity, talent, and drive, are demonstrating that goals and challenges can be achieved, and dreams can be fulfilled within a traditionally male-dominated sector such as agri-food.”

The MujerAGRO project is a professional network of women, men, and organisations committed to the empowerment of women in agricultural professions, increasing their visibility within the agri-food sector and its entire value chain, with the ultimate goal of achieving real equality in this field. It is an open, plural space for communication, awareness-raising, and action to achieve equal opportunities for professional women, facilitate their socio-professional integration, and promote diversity within the agri-food sector.

Marta Llorente, a pig farmer from Zazuar in Burgos and one of eight participants in the Spanish Living Lab of the GRASS CEILING project has been named Female Entrepreneur of the Year  at the 2024 El Norte de Castilla Rural Awards. The awards, which recognise achievements across six categories, are organised by El Norte de Castilla, one of Spain’s leading regional newspapers.

In her acceptance speech, Marta reflected on the challenges and rewards of her decision to leave Madrid and return to her family’s village. “Many people have called me brave for venturing into the primary sector, leaving the city to return to rural Burgos. But I believe that real bravery lies with everyone who commits to this work – it’s not just a job; it’s a way of life. All of those who live in rural areas and know how to recover from adversity are brave”.

The awards jury praised this rural entrepreneur for balancing her livestock business with the management of a 70-hectare extensive crop farm, with more than 20 hectares of vineyards. They also praised Marta for her outreach through social media and her commitment to making the work of rural women visible.

With a degree in Administration and Finance, Llorente left Madrid to settle in Zazuar and after becoming a mother took over her parents’ land. She began with viticulture before training to run a pig-fattening farm, an unconventional role for a woman in the livestock industry. But Marta achieved it through her determination.

During the ceremony she highlighted the administrative obstacles that women farmers have to overcome. She criticised the excessive bureaucracy imposed on farms which, she said “reduces our productive capacity”. Looking to the future, she stressed the importance of focusing on quality and achieving sustainable growth for her business.

Marta concluded her acceptance speech with a broader message for society, urging people to continue to appreciate the dedication of the crop and livestock farmers “that fill our tables with healthy, safe and wholesome products. The Spanish countryside is the best guarantee of food security,” she said.

This year’s El Norte de Castilla Rural Awards coincide with the newspaper’s 170th anniversary. Among the winners was an affiliate of GRASS CEILING – the Regional Union of Cooperatives of Castilla y León URCACYL, that participate in the project through our partner Cooperativas Agroalimentarias de España.

URCACYL received the Miguel Delibes Rural Development Award in recognition of its support of the cooperative sector, its work with the administration, industry, and other stakeholders, as well as its promotion of a social economy model that strengthens rural development and the economy of the region.

To follow Marta Llorente on social media: X (Twitter), Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin

Copyright of the photographs from the Rural Awards gala belongs to El Norte de Castilla. Copyright of the photographs of Marta Llorente and her farm belongs to Marta Llorente.