For the next three years, British Columbia farm women will have $200,000 to use for mentorship projects and education programs.
Chris Michell, a rancher from Kamloops, B.C., who is chairing the steering committee that will allocate the money, said the provincial government has set up a number of sector-specific funds in agriculture because it “wanted to bring women to the forefront, to empower them.”
The projects will be group oriented rather than for individual women, she added.
The first deadline for project applications is Feb. 15. There will be two project calls each year with the second being in October. For more information, go to www.producer.com and type “women in ag” in the go box.
Read Also
Farm auctions evolve with the times
Times have changed. The number of live, on-farm auctions is seeing a drastic decline in recent years. Today’s younger farmers may actually never experience going to one.
BCWI involved
The B.C. Women’s Institute is administering the fund because it is one of the few farm women’s groups with an office and staff, said president Joan Holthe. As well, the BCWI has two representatives on the eight-woman steering committee.
“This is a great opportunity for interested groups to receive assistance to strengthen and foster ideas that may have been on the back burner for some time,” she said.
“I’m sure there are projects out there that will benefit from this first-time instalment of money.”
The steering committee will be looking for projects that bring younger women into community or commodity groups or that encourage successful women farmers to pass along their ideas to others.
