Leadership Academy for Women in Agribusiness trains 80 participants

The Leadership Academy for Women in Agribusiness (ALMA) finalizes another edition of the training program this week, training 80 women. The initiative is by Corteva Agriscience, in partnership with the Brazilian Agribusiness Association (ABAG) and the FIA ​​Business School, and helps to stimulate the development of future leaders in the sector. In total, more than 350 women have participated in the Academy, which was launched in 2019.

Back to the in-person format, on the 24th and 25th of October, in São Paulo/SP, the course completion activities will be carried out (class of 2022), with the traditional presentation of the projects developed by the students, which can be put into practice in their locations, exercising their leadership roles.

The topics are of interest to the women themselves and involve economic indicators within rural properties, sustainability and environmental preservation, use of agricultural pesticides, organic foods, family succession and origin of food. “We are very proud of the themes of the classes and projects developed during the Academy, as these contents are personalized, according to the real needs experienced by these women, who are in the field on a daily basis”, says Rosemeire do Santos, Relations Manager Government of Corteva Agriscience in Brazil.

The program also includes a moment of celebration between all Academy participants since the first edition in 2019 and the holding of the ALMA Journey (acronym for the Leadership Academy for Women in Agribusiness), with the round table “Perspectives, Trends and Future of Agribusiness”, with Prof. Décio Zylbersztajn and Prof. Raquel Santos Soares Menezes, the lectures “Preparing to Overcome Challenges”, with Hortência Marcari, former basketball player, and “Connecting our actions”, with journalist Renata Maron, in addition to the delivery of certificates.

A survey carried out by Agroligadas, in 2021, which had the support of Corteva, ABAG and Sicredi, interviewed more than 400 women working in agribusiness, and revealed that 95% of them are concerned with improving their professional training. “With this program, Corteva maintains its commitment to accelerating the development of rural women, boosting the female presence in the sector and increasingly encouraging female protagonism”, concludes Rosemeire.

For ABAG, it is very gratifying to be part of this project, which is completing four years this year, strengthening women's protagonism. “The idea is to increasingly seek the engagement of agricultural women in a decision-making process, placing them in a prominent position and making them feel increasingly included in the leadership process of the properties where they work, as well as in entities in their regions”, highlighted Gislaine Balbinot, executive director of ABAG.

“We are very honored to contribute to training in such an important and promising niche in the country. We actively work with cases, research, open courses and customized corporate education projects for the various links in the agricultural production chains”, comments Camila Mourad, professor at Pensa/FIA Business School.

The Academy already has a date to resume activities, with a new class starting in February 2023. There will be 100 new places available. The course has four modules, in which farmers learn leadership skills, economics and the agricultural market, the political scenario and its impacts on agribusiness, innovation and sustainability.