Germany is lagging far behind its EU counterparts when it comes to the share of farms being managed or passed on to women according to a new study, which points to the far-reaching consequences this has on their financial security.
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Only 11% of farms in Germany are managed by women, according to a recent nationwide study conducted by the Thünen Institute and the University of Göttingen on behalf of the German agriculture ministry.
On top of that, only one in five of the people set to inherit or otherwise take over farms are women, the study added.
“The results show that women in rural areas are performing tasks of systemic importance, but are at the same time often not very visible in terms of financial matters,” explained Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir at an event where the results of the study were presented on 22 September.
Specifically, the study points to an imbalance between women’s far-reaching responsibilities on farms and how this is reflected legally.
83% of the women farmers surveyed said they work on their family’s farm, while almost three-quarters said they are also involved in strategic and entrepreneurial decisions. But only in very few cases is this contribution also reflected legally, as evidenced by the low proportion of female farm managers.
“In contrast to many other countries, de facto joint farm management is not recorded statistically in Germany,” according to the report.
Financial insecurity
The consequences on the financial security of women farmers are far-reaching.
The report’s authors point out that divorce, separation or the death of their partners could plunge female farmers into financial insecurity, stressing that this has ramifications for women’s healthcare and old-age provision.
In case of divorce or death, for example, “the risk of female old-age poverty is significantly higher and still too few are covered by contracts or wills,” President of the German Rural Women’s Association Petra Bentkämper stressed in a statement.
“These risks must be talked about openly,” she added.
The study’s authors are thus urging women on farms to start taking care of social security coverage, together with their partners, at an early stage.
At the same time, the report calls on insurance providers to “examine the risk of possible pension gaps for women with different employment histories” and to draw their attention to solutions for this.
In France, for example, the government passed a pension reform at the start of February that is set to benefit women farmers.
Tackling gender inequality
To tackle the root cause of gender inequality in the agricultural sector, the study’s authors stress it is necessary to address underlying barriers to entry such as outdated gender images and traditional inheritance practices.
“In order for more women to take over and manage farms, a fundamental change in agricultural traditions is necessary, coupled with more educational work at agricultural educational institutions,” explained Janna Luisa Pieper from the University of Göttingen at the study’s presentation.
It is important that the educational work is not only directed at women, said Pieper: “Gender-equitable agriculture concerns everyone.”
In addition to counselling, education and mentoring services, the experts also believe that support programmes must be created or adapted to make it easier for women to start their own agricultural businesses even without inheriting a family farm.
But while Germany does support young farmers in setting up their own businesses, it is not doing enough for female entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector, according to the European Commission.
In its observation letter on Germany’s National Strategic Plan for the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform, the EU executive said the country needed to pay more attention to issues such as the “income gap between the sexes” or “the gender gap among farm managers, especially young farmers.”
More detailed data needed
However, data on the income gap in Germany’s agriculture sector is very scarce.
The report presented last week, for example, is the first nationwide study on the situation of women in agriculture for which associations, like the LandFrauenverband, had long campaigned for.
The authors are thus calling for collecting more detailed data on the topic to identify better and address women’s obstacles in the field.
“Even if we have been aware of many things for a long time, we need figures and evidence to be able to initiate changes politically,” said LandFrauenverband’s Bentkämper.
[Edited by Natasha Foote/Nathalie Weatherald]
