Spanish GRASS CEILING Living Lab organized a new workshop as a dialogue forum among women farmers and other agri-food actors. This event highlighted the lack of access of women to management positions in cooperatives, as well as their position on the CAP’s policies.
The University of Valladolid’s Palencia Campus, as academic co-leader, and Cooperativas Agroalimentarias de España, as practical co-leader of the European GRASS CEILING Project, have jointly organized the workshop “Dialogues with Women Farmers: Cooperatives and the Common Agricultural Policy”, at the headquarters of the Agropal Agri-Food Cooperative in Palencia (Spain).
This event served as a forum for reflection and dialogue, bringing together women farmers participating in the project with key stakeholders in the agricultural sector. The main objective was to delve into the challenges facing rural areas and the agricultural sector, emphasizing the role of women as drivers of rural development and generational renewal within the cooperative movement and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
The workshop aimed to strengthen knowledge and promote best practices with a gender perspective. The event focused on the women participating in the Spanish Living Lab as the primary protagonists of the Grass Ceiling Project.
The event was opened by Margarita Rico, professor at the Higher Technical School of Agricultural Engineering (University of Valladolid’s Palencia Campus) and Spanish project coordinator, Julia Gómez, deputy director of AGROPAL, and Ángel María Gómez Rivero, director general of the Common Agricultural Policy of the Regional Government in Castilla y León.
The first panel discussion focused on participation and decision-making within agri-food cooperatives. Moderated by Ana de Coca of URCACYL, the panel included Jerónima Bonafé, member of the governing council of Cooperativas Agroalimentarias de España and president of AMCAE (Association of Women in Agri-food Cooperatives of Spain), Javier Narváez, secretary of the governing council of URCACYL, Amada de Salas, winegrower and winemaker in Dueñas (Palencia), and Lucía Velasco, transhumant cattle farmer in Asturias. The debate centered on the underrepresentation of women in cooperative governing boards and the underlying causes, such as limited time availability due to work-life balance challenges and lack of transparency.
The second panel discussion, moderated by Tomás García Azcárate, a researcher at the CSIC, examined the role of women in the new Common Agricultural Policy. Participants included Nuria Ruiz, manager of ASAJA Castilla y León, Ángel María Gómez Rivero, Marta Llorente, pig farmer and winegrower in Zazuar (Burgos), and Silvia González, farmer from Villaconancio (Palencia). The panel discussed critical aspects of the new CAP and broader challenges facing the sector, including increased bureaucracy, an aging rural population, and a lack of generational renewal.
Amalia Rodríguez, professor at the Faculty of Commerce and Labor Relations-Palencia (University of Valladolid), and Jerónima Bonafé delivered the closing remarks. They emphasized the need for greater visibility of women farmers and their proportional representation in decision-making bodies. The importance of gathering the experiences of rural women and creating spaces for dialogue was also highlighted.
The meeting served to strengthen the network established through the project and to deepen discussions on key issues facing the agricultural sector.
