2017 ASHS Annual Conference

Farming is the principal economic activity in most rural areas of the EU. Without farming, there would be little to keep many communities alive and hold them together. Therefore, EU’s Common Agricultural Policy supports farmers in many aspects. A substantial share of the total agricultural labor force are represented by women. Therefore, they need vocational training and guidance in their work places, but unfortunately, that is missing. Helping women farmers get started and thrive are policy ‘musts’ if Europe’s rural areas are successfully to meet the many challenges they face. Some of the EU objectives are to modernize labor markets and empower people by developing their skills to increase labor participation and to improve the business environment. The Empowering Women Farmers with Agricultural Business Management Training Project (EMWOFA) aims to provide a comprehensive training program for women farmers so that they can develop technical, entrepreneurial and managerial skills. The EMWOFA Project will “Train the Trainers” using an educational program training manual for educators. These educators will help women farmers to improve their business skills and farms. This will have a multiplier effect by reaching more women farmers in the EU than we could otherwise. The trainers will train women farmers using a workbook designed to help women farmers develop a business plan for their farms and review best management production methods for growing horticultural crops. E-learning videos will follow the educational program and workbook. The videos are tagged one after another to make it easy for the user to follow. We will share the videos, educational program manuals, and workbooks for women farmers with national extension bodies in the EU and post them on the EMWOFA web portal. This will guarantee both dissemination and the sustainability of the EMWOFA project, which will be prepared in four languages: Turkish, English, German, and Spanish.