VegNET at work: Role of women in horticulture

14 September 2020

On 16 July 2020, around 35 women participated in a ‘virtual bus tour’ hosted by Bundaberg Fruit & Vegetable Growers – which facilitates the VegNET Wide Bay-Burnett project – and Growcom. The tour presented women who worked in the region’s horticulture sector with the opportunity to connect with their peers, and gain an insight into their achievements and challenges. BFVG Managing Director Bree Grima reports.

Queensland grows 44 percent of Australia’s vegetables and supplies around 90 percent of its production during the winter months. The Wide Bay-Burnett region’s vegetable production is valued at approximately $212,904,368 and provides around eight percent of the national total.

This figure only reflects the farm gate value, and not the actual people that are behind the statistics – and this is what interests us. National Economics – Modelled Series data for 2018/19 showed that agriculture in the Bundaberg Regional Council area, which is a sub-section of Wide Bay-Burnett, contributed 5.2 per cent of Queensland’s employment. This supported over 3,000 families with work and another 4.9 per cent of the state’s value-adding sector.

Queensland Farmers’ Federation data released in 2019 revealed that women play a crucial role in the farm agribusiness. Women make up half the international agricultural workforce, and at times face constraints that reduce their contribution to the sector.

With this knowledge, we developed a one-day workshop designed to engage women in agribusiness to raise awareness of environmental outcomes, programs and research and development within the region. It focused on upskilling in social capacity building to empower these women to become greater decision-makers in their agribusiness.

Virtual bus tours

Coordinated by VegNET Wide Bay-Burnett and Growcom, the workshop was designed as a regional bus tour to water quality monitoring projects. However, this had to be adjusted due to COVID-19 restrictions – and this resulted in a surprisingly positive day of upskilling, empowering, and learning.

A video compilation was made with producers that have water quality projects and these were played at the workshop, along with other guest speakers. Approximately 35 women who work in horticulture attended the day, and many were vegetable producers. They were exposed to horticultural production systems in the region that demonstrate the range of on-farm practices being implemented to limit and reduce impacts on reef water quality, while maintaining production.

The video compilation was designed to capture producers’ views on the role of women in horticulture, what the barriers and opportunities are and how their position is viewed. Check out the inspiring video on the Bundaberg Fruit & Vegetable Growers website.

Following the ‘virtual bus tours’, The Art of Extraordinary Facilitator Genevieve Matthews provided upskilling on business capacity building. This focused on resilience and empowering the workplace to encourage women to ask more questions and enhance their capacity as decision-makers. This section was very well-received, and was designed to help women in agriculture create thriving businesses. There was a focus on adapting to change and developing agribusinesses with short- and long-term resources.

‘The Art of Extraordinary’ Facilitator Genevieve Matthews.

Planning for the future

In other VegNET news, we have been working hard on developing a discussion paper and regional extension strategy that will outline potential projects and initiatives to enhance and support the vegetable industry. Key focus areas for the Wide Bay-Burnett region include waste management, biosecurity (pest management and resistance management), water and soil management, and value-adding opportunities.

We look forward to finalising this document and delivering projects that are relevant and meet the needs of the vegetable industry, including its growers, advisors, extension providers and other key stakeholders.