The Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine (DAFM) have recognised a need to do more on gender equality as a result of CSO figures which state that women account for only 13% of the total farm holders in Ireland. However, there are actually 27% of workers on farms recorded as female. The difference in numbers here is over 58,000 women who are often invisible but are working very hard in the background.
This weakness has now been identified and large representation was evident at the conference held in Portlaoise on the 1st of February 2023 (St. Brigid’s Day – Lá Fhéile Bríde). Many discussions were held to examine gender issues in farming and the agri-food sector which will contribute to future policy direction in this regard.
A background document on the event is available here and you can find the full agenda here.
