COPA and COGECA and Corteva Agriscience are proud to announce the five finalists for the 8th Innovation Award for Women Farmers, celebrating women who are driving sustainability, resilience, and innovation in European agriculture.
This year’s theme, “Women making waves in sustainable water system” highlights how women farmers are leading the transition toward more sustainable water use and management in the sector. sustainability.
Despite representing 42% of the agricultural workforce, women hold only 30% of managerial positions in the sector. This award aims to change that narrative by showcasing their leadership, creativity, and resilience in finding new solutions to the challenges faced by farmers and agri-cooperatives and by rural areas from climate change, high input prices to instability and geopolitical tensions.
This year’s five outstanding finalists, from Belgium, Hungary, Poland, Italy, and Ireland, embody the transformative power of women in agriculture: Alessandra Pighin’s tech-driven mixed farm proves tradition and efficiency can coexist; Sarah Descamps’s closed-loop irrigation system stores 24 million liters of rainwater while integrating digital and solar innovations; Monika Zsuzsanna Horváth’s “Gidatitok” goat milk soaps repurpose farm byproducts to revitalize rural jobs; Lidia Moron Morawska’s organic beekeeping model boosts biodiversity and pollinator health; and Cheryl Poole turned her 13th-generation dairy farm into a water stewardship pioneer, earning “Blue Dot” river status through constructed wetlands and community collaboration.
Their success highlights the need for EU policies that support women’s leadership in agriculture, such as training, funding and representation.
The winner and the special mention award, selected by a distinguished jury, will be announced in a ceremony planned for the end of the year in Brussels.
To find out more about the award the finalists, please head to https://womenfarmersaward.eu/
Fonte: Copa Cogeca
