One of the last trenches in the objective of labor equality for women and men is in agricultural and fishing work. Thus, although in Andalusia women already account for 30% of the members of the cooperatives agroalimentarias, in the governing councils there are less than 4%. Adoración Blanque, the secretary of Equality of Asaja, points out as an example that in her province, AlmerÃa, of the 900 members of the councils in the 80 cooperatives, three are women.
The Ministry of Agriculture promotes the Law, in the form of Statute of Rural Women, that addresses that deficit. It speaks of the “balanced proportion” of men and women. Although the Ministry indicates that this expression is defined by the 2007 Gender Equality law as a requirement of a minimum of 40% representation of either of the two sexes, there are groups that ask for the explicit inclusion of that figure in the new Statute . Something that makes the Statute of Women of Castilla la Mancha, the only one existing in Spain together with that of the Basque Country.
The objective, in any case, is Herculean. According to data from the Board, the primary sector in Andalusia (agriculture, livestock, forestry and fishing) employed 250,915 people in 2018, of which 66,151 were women. 26,3%. Of these, only 8,348 were under 30 years of age compared to 31,374 men, which shows the lack of generational change, the gap will continue for years.
Women also do not have access to jobs responsibility. Although in the cooperatives they represent 25% of the members, in the Governing Councils they are 3.8% in 1st grade cooperatives, and 2.3% in 2nd grade cooperatives. In the fishing sector, the more advanced the production process, the greater the presence of women: 2% in the producer sector; 25% in wholesale marketing and 52% in the processing industry.
The “balanced ratio” issue makes a difference. UPA (Union of Small Farmers) will propose that 40% be included explicitly, such as the Association of Women of Agricultural-food Cooperatives of Andalusia (AMCAE). Inà © s Casado, Secretary of Equality at UPA, adds that a period of four years to achieve that goal.
In all the sectors consulted there is agreement regarding the great difficulty of carrying out the parity to the agrarian sphere, and of course to the fishing sector, which is also included in the Statute of Rural Women. “For men, a change produces rejection”, affirms White Adoration, “because it is frowned upon, the custom is that they lead, just as for women assume family responsibilities.”
Job invisibility
And that in cooperatives “there are farmers in command without a career, but women always have to show their courage, they look at her with a magnifying glass; and the truth is that half of the cooperative members are women”, adds the Secretary of Equality of Asaja.
The same coincidence exists in that the current situation results, at least, from another era. The Minister of Agriculture, Carmen Crespo, describes the panorama as “of masculinization, labor invisibility and lack of opportunities to gain equal access to a job, land ownership or business management tasks “.
In any case, the regulation includes a key point in its current draft law phase: money. Five years after the entry into force of the Law, the Board will not grant helps nor subsidies to agricultural and fishing associations of any kind that do not have women in their management bodies. And, at eight years of age, they will not be granted if they do not represent at least 40% of the governing bodies.
Counselor Crespo has announced other steps. Agriculture will ask the Ministry that in the new Common Agricultural Policy the coupled aid apply the gender criterion for women; the Board will guarantee that “all the lines of aid of the Ministry include equality criteria”. However, he cautions that a parity reality “It is difficult to change in a short time.”
Co-ownership is the most substantial issue for women farmers. The current situation is that the man is almost always the owner of the farm. And that is so by ‘tradition’ and because sharing it with women means paying for another agrarian stamp, it means more expense.
Verónica Romero, from the Fademur Women’s Federation, wants measures such as the bonus discharge from the self-employed, in a matter that he considers his “main workhorse”. The Statute in process includes that the Ministry will prioritize grant applications when the holder is a woman or a shared ownership.
And not a few organizations claim that rural women are not only those who work in the fields or at sea. The Federation of Associations of Rural Women Sol Rural defends that “everything said affects all rural women, not only women in agriculture and fishing. Equal treatment and opportunities we need them all “, whether they are artisans or merchants.
The Andalusian rural population continues to be very important despite the progressive concentration in cities and on the coast. In 2019 it amounted to 36% of the total population, with just over 3 million inhabitants. Localities where the main employment niche It is a forbidden preserve for your professional promotion.
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