The Sociological Association of Ireland held its annual conference on May 8th at University College Cork. At the conference, Dr Muireann Prendergast, GRASS CEILING’s Postdoctoral Researcher at SETU, Waterford, led a panel entitled “Changing the Gender (In)equality Landscape in Agriculture and Rural Areas in Ireland: Challenges, Innovations and Opportunities.” (Conference Schedule here)
The panel was comprised of researchers working on sister projects: Dr Aisling Murtagh, University of Galway, representing the Horizon Europe-funded FLIARA project; Dr Martina Roche, Maynooth University, Principal Investigator of HER-SELF (Highlighting pathways to Empower Rural women to have Sustainable and Equitable Livelihoods in Farming) funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM); and Dr Mary Curtin, University of Limerick, who is involved in several projects and researching farm ownership through a gender lens. (Header picture: from left to right: Dr Martina Roche, Dr Mary Curtin, Dr Muireann Prendergast, Dr Aisling Murtagh)
Panellists discussed the current landscape for farm and rural women in European and national contexts, the different approaches to innovation being taken by women and the importance of sustainability, short supply chains, local communities and resources for these women.
Critical challenges explored included the factors sustaining male dominance in farm ownership and land transfer in Ireland, the implications of the lack of gender-disaggregated data available on women’s activities in farm and rural communities and economies and the problems experienced by women when attempting to access loans and funding programmes.
Speakers also highlighted inadequacies in representations of farm and rural women in EU and national policy, where they are often treated as a special category and framed with a discourse of vulnerability, and in national media platforms, where their contribution to agriculture and rural communities has traditionally been overlooked. Issues with gender mainstreaming at European and national levels were also spotlighted.
Concluding with a positive outlook, panellists noted the significance of the research findings on display and the timeliness of the recommendations produced during the consultation period for new national policy documents on agriculture and rural development.
