IICA and Corteva promote discussion in Colombia on the situation of Rural Women

With the aim of identifying contributions from the main actors in the agricultural sector to improve the situation of rural women in Colombia, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and Corteva Agriscience organized, in Bogotá, the conference “Challenges and opportunities of rural women in Colombia. A commitment from everyone.”

At the event, which also celebrated Colombian Women's Day, the second edition of the book “Fighters. Rural women in the world”, which has among its co-authors the Vice-President of Colombia, Marta Lucía Ramírez de Rincón, and which has become a world reference publication on the situation of rural women on the five continents.

The release of “Fighters. Rural women in the world”, which also features articles by the President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Luis Alberto Moreno; the Co-President of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda Gates; Corteva Agriscience's Vice President of External Affairs and Sustainability, Dana Boldem; the Minister of Food and Agriculture of the Federal Republic of Germany, Julia Klöckner; and the Minister of Agriculture of Brazil, Tereza Cristina, and the conference itself, brought together authorities from the Colombian government, representative associations of the sector and executives from private companies, as well as representatives from the media.

The event was attended by Colombia's Vice Minister of Agricultural Affairs, Marcela Ureña; the person in charge of the Rural Women area of ​​the High Council for Women's Equity María do Campo, Sara Bonilla; the President of the Association of Agroecological Producers of Nilo Proasogrago (representing Colombian women farmers), Liliana Jiménez; the Operations Manager of Corteva Agriscience in Colombia, Carlos Rebolledo; the IICA Representative in Colombia, Humberto Oliveira; Jens Mesa Dishington, Executive President of the Federación Nacional de Cultivadores de Palma de Aceite (Fedepalma) and IICA Goodwill Ambassador, and Azucena Liévano, head of the editorial board at Caracol Noticias.

"The contribution of the Vice-President of Colombia, Marta Lucía Ramírez de Rincón, in the book 'Fighters – Rural Women in the World' is important. This Government is working to close the gaps that exist for rural women fighters in Colombia", said the Vice Minister Urueña.

Representatives from Corteva Agriscience and IICA agreed to make an appeal about the importance of empowering women farmers and encouraging more young women to develop agricultural careers, seeking to prioritize the activity of food production within a sustainable framework, in order to ensure food supply and preserve the environment.

"Rural women are a central figure for food security and, however, they still experience widespread discrimination, which forces us to collaborate in different instances such as private institutions, government, industry, academia and civil society itself to raise awareness about their outstanding work and the challenges they face every day”, said Rebolledo.

In turn, Oliveira expressed that “the objective of this publication launched by IICA and Corteva is to produce a tribute to a central figure for food security and the economic and social progress of our continent and also, and no less important, is to encourage a public discussion to encourage the implementation of quality policies that improve the situation of women living in the countryside”.

“Fighters. Rural women in the world” - Download the electronic version of the book here.