Embrapa also launches the first video of a series on productive inclusion of rural women, available on social media Rural women are present in the cultivation of several crops, such as coffee, cotton, tomato, as well as in farms with integrated crop-livestock-forestry system (ICLFS), among other agricultural activities in Brazil. On International Women’s Day, March 8, Embrapa launched the first video of a series produced by Observatório das Mulheres Rurais do Brasil, telling success stories of these women. Embrapa also announced efforts with research institutions of Procisur member countries (Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Chile) to strengthen gender perspective in science and technology systems of the Southern Cone, concerning agricultural research. Last year, there were six on-line meetings as part of the Procisur Program of Gender Studies for Agricultural Science and Technology Institutions, aiming at interpreting and getting to know gender perspectives, from project concept to delivery. The initiative intends to create opportunities to strengthen science and technology systems in the countries and in the region, by identifying mutual experiences and potential instruments. According to Cristina Arzabe, researcher at Embrapa's Superintendency of Strategy (SUEST), which coordinates the Observatory, reducing the gaps due to the lack of gender perspective in national agricultural research institutes is a priority and a strategy for the Southern Cone. In her opinion, there is a growing body of evidence of improvements to scientific investigation, services and innovation when a different and multidimensional perspective is adopted. “Another aim of incorporating the gender perspective in Procisur research institutions is to develop a joint agenda on the topic, in joint spaces of reflection, that is able to promote women’s progress and generate new strategies strengthened by regional cooperation”, she adds. In 2021, Procisur launched the document "La Perspectiva de Género como Agenda de Oportunidades Estratégicas para los Institutos de Investigación Agropecuaria", validated by Embrapa, which is committed to including gender perspective in its research projects.. An overview of women in Brazilian agriculture Women are essential to Brazilian agriculture since they run a relevant part of the agricultural establishments: 18.6% out of the 5 million in Brazil. This is the reason why it is fundamental to incorporate gender perspective to improve research results. According to the last Brazilian Census of Agriculture, carried out in 2017, the number of illiterate women who run agricultural establishments is significantly lower among the younger ones, probably due to family or individual investments in generating new opportunities. It may also be a result of the encouragement to women’s education in the last 2 decades. “We understand that education must happen during rural productive inclusion processes, but it should also happen in agricultural researches, in order to include gender perspective to our investigations”, adds Helena Maria Alves, researcher of Embrapa Coffee, and a member of the team of Observatório das Mulheres Rurais do Brasil. Women are essential for Brazilian agriculture since they run a relevant part of the agricultural establishments: 18.6% out of 5 million in Brazil. This is the reason why it is fundamental to incorporate a gender perspective to improve research results. According to the last Brazilian Census of Agriculture, carried out in 2017, the number of illiterate women who run agricultural establishments is significantly lower among the younger ones, probably due to family or individual investments in generating new opportunities. It may also be a result of the encouragement to women’s education in the last two decades. “We understand that education must happen during rural productive inclusion processes, but it should also happen in agricultural researches, in order to include gender perspective to our investigations”, adds Helena Maria Alves, a researcher at Embrapa Coffee and a member of the team of Observatório das Mulheres Rurais do Brasil. Check the special bulletin on International Women’s Day elaborated by the Inter-Union Department of Statistics and Socio-Economic Studies (in Portuguese) Video series on rural women Embrapa will launch a series of short videos in 2023 as part of the initiative of the Observatório das Mulheres Rurais do Brasil, a project in partnership with FAO and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (MAPA), in the scope of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Gender Equality (SDG 5), of 2030 Agenda of United Nations (UN). The first video presents woman’s productive capacity in different Brazilian regions. The story of Adivana Aguiar Almeida, a naturally-colored cotton producer, is an example. “Cotton strengthen the bond among women”, says the farmer from Serra da Borborema, in the municipality of Remígio, Paraíba state, Brazil. “Cotton makes our community grow. It brings well-being, income, and hope”, she completes. The coffee grower Wiliana Cerena Viana, who was interviewed in the series, tells she was a coffee grower and became an owner of a specialty coffee shop. “We are finalists in contests in our region and want to grow even more. We love what we do and we do what we love”, she says. Data, success stories, and videos on rural women can be found on Observatório das Mulheres Rurais platform, launched in December 2022 during a ceremony at MAPA, aiming to join information to develop projects and public policies for rural women. Access data from the last Brazilian Census of Agriculture on rural womenhere(in Portuguese)