February Mexico-Ireland St Brigid’s Day event celebrates women as unsung heroes of agriculture

NUI Galway teamed up with the Irish embassy in Mexico to highlight the role women play as the “unsung heroes” of the agriculture sector in the two countries.

Dr Maura Farrell, lecturer in the School of Geography, Archaeology and Irish Studies, chaired the day-long webinar which was organised to mark St Brigid’s Day.

Dr Farrell said: “Women in Irish and Mexican agriculture are often considered and referred to as the ‘unsung heroes’ of the farm family. Historically, women engaged in agriculture have given their time, expertise and for many their life to the land and the farm family, with little recognition.

The webinar - St Brigid’s Day: A Celebration of Women in Agriculture in Ireland and Mexico - was hosted by the Irish embassy in Mexico City.

The panel contributors included Guadalupe Aguirre Pérez Oronoz, who runs the Agua Escondida Agroecological ranch over the last 30 years demonstrating how agriculture can have no impact on the environment.

Other contributors were Paula Fitzsimons, founder of Fitzsimons Consulting and national coordinator for the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor in Ireland, Alison Fagan of Ornua, Senator Beatriz Elena Paredes Rangel, the first woman Governor of Tlaxcala and Lina Pohl, director for Central America of Heinrich Boll Foundation and former Environment Minister in El Salvador.

Dr Farrell added: “By joining the embassy’s online event we seek greater recognition for the contribution women make to agriculture and rural development and the key role they play in the stability of the family farm. We also look for an end to the patriarchal agricultural environment of the past and open the doors to young girls and women wishing to make farming and agriculture a future life and career.”

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