Method
For this purpose interviews and a workshop were conducted with 34 female farm-entrepreneurs in Eastern Bavaria and the West of Ireland. The case study areas are characterized by similar agricultural structures and in the past experienced the out-migration of young women. In these areas creating new employment opportunities for women would be very important.
Data for this project was collected in three steps: First qualitative interviews (19) were conducted in Eastern Bavaria; second, qualitative interviews (11) were conducted in the West of Ireland; third, a workshop was held with 13 female agricultural entrepreneurs in Eastern Bavaria. The interviews lasted on average 45 minutes, were recorded, transcribed and analyses using specific software package. Workshop results were documented and integrated into the overall results.
Results
Comparing the results shows that women from both case study areas face similar, sometimes gender specific barriers. Many of the participants run their businesses with very high levels of work input. High workloads can become excessive where women are also responsible for household, family and care work. Holidays and other periods of recreation are almost non-existent. Typically the income made from the diversification business is modest. Once the business generates a decent profit the question remains as to how much is at the disposal of the women. It is not uncommon that the profits go back into the farm. If it is owned by the husband – which in this study was the case in a few instances in Bavaria, though not in Ireland – women are at economic risk in case of a divorce. Without pension planning or marriage contracts, the economic independence of these women entrepreneurs is questionable. Furthermore, the diversification businesses tend to be closely intertwined with the farm in terms of location, legal status and economics. One reason is that farm diversification schemes are not necessarily gender neutral. Usually the farm holder is entitled to apply for funding under these schemes. With the majority of farms owned by men (in Bavaria and Ireland more than 80%) payments are unbalanced from a gender perspective. In many of the studied diversification enterprises women are the managers, but on paper the husband is the owner in order to be entitled for payments. It would be important to follow up on this research with a quantitative study about to establish how much profit the diversification businesses generate and how much of it is available to the women now and in old age. More information is needed also on the divorce rate in agriculture as well as about the legal ownership status of the diversification businesses to identify the number of women at risk. This study points to a lack of awareness of farming couples about the necessity of pension planning; any education and training in the area of diversification should contribute to this.
The participants mentioned bureaucracy, access to finance, and employing people as key difficulties when starting and growing a business. In Ireland getting access to individual advice on technical business questions e.g. from the farm advisory service was difficult.
Participants in Bavaria had made positive experiences with the educational offers made by the Department of Agriculture; in Ireland some participants had taken part in the ACORNS business mentoring program for women in rural areas and highly valued its impact on further developing their businesses.
Overview of communication and dissemination of the results:
Article on Bayfor Website (non-scientific)
Interview, Irish farmers’ journal (non-scientific)
Presentation to Bavarian women in farming (non-scientific)
Marie Sklodowska Curie Ambassador, UCD, Dublin, Ireland (non-scientific)
5 Presentations to Bavarian farm advisors (non-scientific)
Presentation at the International Farm Advisor Conference (IALB), Salzburg, www.xing-events.com/IALB2019.html
Presentation at the European Seminar on Extension and Education (ESEE), Sicily, www.reterurale.it
German Brochure, delivered to farm advisors, farm women and NGOs (non-scientific)
English Brochure, international farm advisors, Irish farm women (non-scientific)
Scientific publication, ‘Schule & Beratung’ (Scientific, non-peer reviewed)
Publication on www.stmelf.bayern.de/forschung_innovation/214390/ (non-scientific)
