Equality in agriculture

For years, Steinkjer municipality has been a good model for gender equality. But the male farmer is still dominating the agricultural picture. Men own most of the property and influence the farms more than women do.

The agricultural office in Steinkjer has actively addressed these problems. At their request, KUN has conducted a survey among the farmers in the area, to find out which measures should be taken in order to promote gender equality in agriculture. The goal is to ensure a diverse, motivated and competent agricultural population for the future.

An important insight derived from KUNs report is that the political intentions to create a diverse agricultural environment open up new possibilities, and allow for several new alternatives for women who wish to pursue farm work. The tasks of a farmer are not only to ensure settlement and to produce food, but also to maintain the cultural landscape and perhaps to produce niche products or work with farm tourism. For the agricultural office, these perspectives require a broadening of their scope, so that the focus is not only on the one driving the tractor.

Ownership is another important issue in KUN’s work for the agricultural office. We wish to examine the relationship between women’s ownership of the farm and their participation in the daily operations of the farm. Might a greater share of female owners result in more actively involved female farmers? The agricultural office will provide courses in the value of ownership and in the different models of ownership to advisors and to the office for family counseling in the municipality.

In the longer run, agricultural offices in other parts of Norway will also be able to reap the fruits of the experience from KUN’s work in Nord-Trøndelag. KUN has been assigned the task of developing a national guide to gender equality work in the agricultural sector. This guide will contain specific advice on how to ensure that both women and men are actively involved in agriculture.

“KUN has been an inspiration and a driving force in this work. Our cooperation and the resulting written material will be of great use in our further work on gender equality in agriculture in Steinkjer municipality” (Gunnar Vorum, unit leader, Steinkjer municipality).

Publisert: 05.10.11 13:59
Sist oppdatert: 05.10.11 14:25