On October 15 of every year we celebrate the
International Day of Rural Women
established by the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) in 2007 to highlight the importance of women in economic development and poverty eradication. This year’s theme, “Rural women face the global increase in the cost of living“, aims to reinforce their demands, appreciate their work in providing food and services in less developed areas and demand equal opportunities in rural areas.

Currently, according to UN datawomen living in rural areas make up the majority of the population. quarter of the world’s populationThey play a key role in the development and strengthening of economies, in global food supply and in building resilience to climate change. Agriculture is the main sector of employment for this population group, but rural women also play a key role in the process of preservation and conservation of the biodiversity of agrarian systems, given their participation in rural societies, and in the maintenance of the culture and traditions of local communities.

However, women in these environments continue to face significant discrimination in terms of agricultural resource ownership, as less than 15% of agricultural landowners worldwide are women. They are also unequal in terms of pay, decision-making capacity or access to health care and other social services, especially in developing countries. And, according to the latest UN Women reportIn these countries, the gender gap in opportunities has widened, as rural women in these countries are affected more severely by factors such as a lower standard of living and poorer health, high rates of poverty and malnutrition. They also suffer from greater economic insecurity, have few opportunities for social advancement and for acquiring new skills and knowledge, and have little collective voice to represent them and look after their interests.

In this context, the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) supports different projects that aim to highlight the role of rural women for their contribution to green and blue employment and as active social agents in the wealth generation and the conservation and protection of biodiversity. In addition, the aim is to improve their skills and promote the development of green businesses and increase employment in rural areas.

Thus, within the framework of the
Empleaverde Program
Program, co-financed by the European Social Fund, the University of Cadiz is developing the project “Empleaverde”.Training of 21st century salt producers. Trades for sustainable development“. This initiative seeks to provide innovative solutions for the restoration and recovery of spaces, aimed at improving the employability of women through training in trades and facilitating the creation of jobs linked to the blue economy. Sixty-five percent of the participants in this initiative are women.

For its part, the Albacosturas cooperative is executing the project “.Sustainable stitches. Training in sewing and circular fashion“This project was born out of a social and environmental need: to create business opportunities in the sustainable fashion sector with a clear impact on the circular economy. The aim is to generate quality employment among women over 45 years of age, one of the most precarious and difficult groups to access the labor market.

In addition, the Federation of Associations of Young Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurs of Castilla-La Mancha (AJE CLM), through the program “Z-EMPRENDE” (Z-EMPRENDE), has launched a new program for young entrepreneurs.
Z-EMPRENDE
“program, contributes to the training and counseling of 36 women living in rural areas, so that they can successfully materialize their business idea. Participants will learn about the reality of the green economy sector and its potential for job creation, acquire entrepreneurial skills for the start-up of their businesses and receive group and individual advice throughout the process.

Likewise, the Biodiversity Foundation, within the framework of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan (PRTR), financed by the European Union – NextGenerationEU supports various transformative projects of a scientific-technical nature for the promotion of the bioeconomy and the contribution to the ecological transition.

In this sense, the Global Nature Foundation is developing “Nature grazed”.which seeks to enhance the value of the grazing as a necessary economic activity in the current context of the demographic challenge for nature conservation, economic recovery and the fight against climate change, making the role of women more visible and guaranteeing their participation in all project activities.

Finally, the Fundación Comercio para el Desarrollo (COPADE) is carrying out “Del bosque a tu casa” (DBC), with the aim of generating innovative economic initiatives led by women to make sustainable use of non-timber forest products from Spanish forests. The initiative works on the creation of small-scale bakeries and laboratories that train women to become entrepreneurs and leaders of these businesses. The aim is also to reactivate rural environments in depopulated areas in Spain and promote entrepreneurship and employment through the sustainable use of these forests, guaranteeing forestry and social certification and the traceability of forest products (ensuring their origin in the territory and environmental protection).