Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Charlie McConalogue has announced he is “committed to delivering greater numbers of female farmers in Ireland.
Mr McConalogue said his department’s records show there are currently 26,507 women farming – either solely or in a joint venture, compared to 128,167 men.
He said the new CAP Regulations will promote gender equality in farming with a package of measures to focus on women’s participation in farming.
The measures include: an increased rate of grant aid of 60 per cent for women aged 41-55 under Targeted Agriculture Modernisation Schemes (TAMS); Women-only Knowledge Transfer (KT) Groups; and proposals to examine women’s participation in agriculture.
According to the CSO Labour Force Survey 2019, 13% of workers in the primary agriculture, forestry and fishing sector were female.
Mr McConalogue added that for 2020, the figure was 15%, the highest since 2010. Furthermore, the CSO’s 2016 Farm Structure Survey recorded 71,700 women working on farms. Less than one quarter (16,100) were farm holders.
LSL News.