THE National Farmers Union recently released a survey that suggests ways to encourage women to get involved in farm policy making.
The report contains suggestions for creating a more inclusive system for collecting farmers’ opinions and particularly for boosting farm women involvement in the decision-making process.
It suggests that most of the 105 farm women surveyed at workshops in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Prince Edward Island are not far apart on what they consider to be the crucial farm issues compared to farmers and politicians on the whole.
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The women surveyed said they and their spouses agreed the farm financial crisis, brought on by low prices and high input costs, is the most pressing issue facing farming today. They also believe the farm safety net system, the agricultural policy framework, is deeply flawed. Farm groups and governments have had these same issues at the top of the farm policy agenda for years
Fifty-one percent of those surveyed cited affiliations with the NFU and 49 percent cited affiliations with another organization. The NFU women differ from other farm groups in where they place the blame for the financial troubles in agriculture.
Whereas many farm groups see the problem as caused by foreign subsidies driving down prices and market protections that keep Canadian agricultural products out of other countries, the women surveyed blame a federal agricultural policy that is tilted too much in favour of agri-business.
It is a point the general NFU membership has made for years and was a key element in a report issued by Wayne Easter, parliamentary secretary to former Liberal agriculture minister Andy Mitchell.
There is indeed much common ground the women share with the farming population as a whole.
The report also pointed out that few farm women take active roles in agricultural policy making and too few are involved in established farm groups.
There are a few key women who have worked in the upper echelons of agricultural policy. The Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association has a woman president and until recently has had a female executive director and the NFU has had a women president in the past. But there are few women listed on the executives of farm groups in Canada.
The report contains numerous suggestions for fixing this imbalance. One recommendation would force government departments to ensure female participation in every policy discussion. Another calls for invitations to be sent directly to farm women to attend farm meetings.
Another would require all farm organizations to collect and represent the distinct interests of men and women. Another suggests women be paid to attend farm policy meetings and have access to on-site child care and one recommends that women work with government and farm organizations to ensure media provide equal weight to women’s views on policy issues.
Nobody can argue with the goal of these recommendations. Until women are better represented, a great resource – women’s perspectives and opinions on how to create effective farm policy – remains largely untapped.
Indeed many of the issues are not women’s issues at all, but are general farm and population issues. Paying all farmers, not just women, to attend meetings if they must leave their jobs to attend meetings, and providing child care at meetings are both valid ideas, but may present cost difficulties for farm groups and/or governments. But the suggestions are worth a look.
Other suggestions are more problematic given that they have potential to bring onerous regulations and restrictions into the policy gathering process.
Forcing farm groups to divide their focus to represent distinct agendas for men and women is not a good idea. Many groups are formed to work toward specific causes, be it for freer trade, more funding and information sharing for specific commodities, regulations to encourage survival of smaller farms or environmental protection, to name only a few.
People join these groups out of a feeling of affinity for the cause and they must feel free to work for the causes they support.
A carrot rather than stick philosophy would serve women better. Farm groups must be encouraged to attract women into their fold by creating a welcoming environment. Groups with so-called ‘old boys networks’ that shut women out do a disservice to farming and should not, as MP Carol Skelton recently pointed out, be considered valid farm groups.
As to the media giving equal weight to farm women’s issues, that will come. As women take on greater roles within farm groups and government departments, the media, as a reflection of the broader society, will reflect that change.
Media organizations must ensure they air a diversity of opinions, genders and races, but regulating such measures impinges on press freedom and accuracy in day-to-day reporting.
On the whole, the report covers the gamut of key issues of interest to men and women. If the goal is to create healthy farms, healthy families and healthy rural communities, there is much in the report for both genders to cheer.
