The Trials, Importance, and Contributions of Female FarmersBy: Katelynn Mudgett

Cover letterDear Teacher,

Overall, I did a great job working on this project on the trials, importance, and contributions of female farmers. It was a little difficult only because there was so much information I wanted to sure but I had to pick and choose what information made it into the presentation. On a couple of slides, I had a few more words than I needed but other than that, I think I did well with what I choose. What was put the slides certainly shows that this is a serious topic for me. I decided to do my own presentation because I wanted to give as much information as possible on my topic and not just do a few slides like the groups did for each of their topics. I enjoyed other people’s presentation when they had an environmental the most. Still, the one fact that caught my attention was the fact there is a certain sheet that has been made for hospitals where it acts like shark skin where bacteria doesn’t stick to the surface.

From,

Katelynn Mudgett

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMpZ0TGjbWE

Women farmers make important contributions In today’s world, they produce

over 80% of the food in the worldThey make the food purchasing

decisions for the farm household.

Being female holds many women back around the world a couple of decades ago when rural women in European

countries such as Italy and Germany were still not considered workers or farmers, only their husbands.

With agroforestry in Africa, men are considered the owners of tree production. Most of the money that is made by women goes back to the male head of the land.

In many cultures, economic and social resources and connections are extremely limited which limits their ability to have their own income & to be able to focus on important things such as education.

Better access can improve the farm operations of female farmers A company called Allegro Coffee in the 1980's decided to send their

coffee to American consumers while paying the farmers a fair price. It was such a success that a group called the Codemu's Women Group joined the company as a collaborator.

The group consisted of 75 female coffee growers that, through the company, were able to create a café which became so popular that it is now considered a staple in the local community today and attracts tourists regularly.

This shows that those women farmers not only contribute to the amount of food grown, but also contribute to the local economy.

Women farmers are needed to help solve world hunger“If we want to address hunger, it's not just about the world producing more food - we know we've actually got enough food in the world - it's about how it's distributed.”

Female farmers grow up to 80% of the world in the developing countries, yet only 5% actually receive training and services which limits distribution

Access is needed for female farmers because 1 out of 8 people die every day from no food and over 2 million children die every year.

FEMALE FARMERS IN AMERICA In the U.S. Agriculture Department's 2007 Census of

Agriculture report, the government found women farm operators increased 19% from 2002, far outpacing the 7% increase in the number of farmers overall.

Women were the principal operator, the individual in charge of day-to-day operations, on 14% of farms and ranches compared with 11% five years earlier.

By 2027, about 200 million acres of farmland will switch hands with the owners likely to be mostly women.

Representation of American female farmers In February, at the USDA's annual

outlook conference where for the first time, held a 30-minute session to allow women at the mostly-male-attended event to network.

only one female event organizer present among a group of men.

American female farmers hit with recent blow In September, the House and Senate “approved separate versions of

the nearly $1 trillion, ten-year farm bill that scale back or eliminate programs that help many women farmers stay in business.”

government program called Conservative Reserve Program that pays farmers to basically not farm. Funding has been cut by $2.7 billion dollars that will decrease over the next ten years.

$4.5 billion annual direct payment program where they are paid according to the difference between the farm bill prices and the market prices.

About 44.5% of women-operated farms and ranches receive payment for programs like the direct payment one according to a 2007 agricultural census.

A Local Female Farmer Amy Fiedler Johnston is the farmer and

owner of Springhouse Farm, about 20 min. away from Boone

Grows vegetables, raises chickens, does beekeeping for honey, etc.

Thanks!