Twenty women who have positively impacted the advancement of Agriculture in Jamaica were recognized for their work in the industry by the Jamaica Agricultural Society (JAS) on June 12.
The women are: Cardia Thompson, Paulette Lyons-Dodd, Claudette Bernard, Hyacinth Chin Sue-Walters, Beverley Darby Collins, Janet Connie, Brenda Cuthbert, Patricia Depass, Shelly Ann Dinall, Olive Downer-Walsh, Una May Gordon, Sheila Harvey, Marlene Headley, Jasmin Holness, Dr Dian Harvey, Mazie Miller, Joy Spence, Marjorie Stair, Shanet Williams and Dr Florence Young.
With a combine of some 100 years of service to the industry, the women were recognized under the theme “The Achievers”.
Janet Pullen, project, marketing and training manager at the JAS said that 67 per cent of the sector is made up of women who are trailblazers and as such it was fitting that the conference recognized these women.
Highlighting the achievements of some of these women, Mrs Pullen said awardees such as Hyacinth Chin Sue-Walters who was recognized for her work at the Pesticide Control Authority of Jamaica and as the first female head of that organisation, has contributed tremendously to the sector.
“She was also the chair of the global association for two years and right now she is in Europe working on their Pesticides Control Authority and she came out of Jamaica,” she said with pride.
Meanwhile, Cardia Thompson was the first woman to develop an animal feed from cassava and Dr Florence Young was recognized as a pioneer plant pathologist with focus on developing Jamaica’s strain of citrus.
“These are our ordinary Jamaican women. We have a lot of women doing significant work. The problem we are having is that although they are doing the work and creating history, they are not being recognised in the sector and given equity with their male counterparts,” she said underscoring the importance of having the conference.
She said the take away lesson from the conference was one of empowerment. “It was all about celebrating our women,” she added.
Lenworth Fulton, president of the Jamaica Agricultural Society in paying tribute to the women at the Conference noted that the media is still fairly fond of portraying women farmers as a novelty and not necessarily highlighting their long history of direct and indirect involvement in agriculture.
He cited the cases of women operating in the fields, involved in construction, as well as land preparation. The JAS president also made reference to the farm work groups going overseas which also included women, as examples of the strides that women have made over the years.
“We have women employed in the various forms of animal husbandry, including beekeeping; operating agri-business enterprises, including export enterprises; working in extension services; and, administratively, in the various departments that comprise the sector,” he said.
Other speakers of the Conference included Rochelle Cameron, Assistant Vice President of Human Resource Development & Public Relations – Jamaica Broilers Group, who spoke on Strategic Leadership for Equity.
The Conference was held in collaboration with the Hi-Pro Division of the Jamaica Broilers Group of Companies at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in St Andrew.
There are no comments published yet.