TEXAS WOMEN MEET TO DISCUSS SECOND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE
TEMPLE, TX, January 9, 1998 -- In preparation for the Second International Conference on Women in Agriculture to be held in Washington D.C., June 28-July 2, 1998, USDA Rural Development's Texas State Office held a roundtable discussion Friday, January 9 with a number of women involved in agriculture from the Rio Grande Valley.
The meeting was attended via teleconference by both USDA's Under Secretary for Rural Development Jill Long Thompson, who is chairing the Second International Conference on Women in Agriculture and Mary Salce, an Australian dairy farmer who organized the first conference, which was held in Australia in 1994. The Second International Conference is a followup to both the Australia meeting and the Fourth United Nations Conference on Women held in Beijing, China in 1995.
"This meeting is an excellent opportunity for women from around the world to come together and discuss issues all of us face," said Under Secretary Long Thompson. "Women across the globe are working in agriculture, as farm laborers managing the family farm, running agricultural research laboratories and serving as agricultural officials. In some countries, women produce up to 80% of the food supply. This conference is an important step in raising the status of these women both here in the US and abroad."
"We are very happy to have the opportunity to meet with women in Texas and to ask for their input about issues that should be addressed at the Second International Conference on Women in Agriculture," said Judy Canales, Deputy Director of USDA Rural Development's Texas state office. "We have women from a production agriculture background, some of the colonias areas of the state, and some who are involved in agricultural community development, and we are really seeing a diversity of experience about issues that are currently affecting women in agriculture." Among topics the women discussed were using technology to increase crop production, creating cooperative markets, and issues faced by migratory workers, such as child care and housing availability.
The Second International Conference for Women, hosted by the President's Interagency Council on Women, is expected to draw 1,200 delegates from more than 40 countries. For more information on the conference, contact USDA at ICWA or write Jill Long Thompson, 1400 Independence Ave, SW Room 211W, Washington, DC 20250-0107.
CONTACT:
USDA Rural Development Deputy State Director Judy Canales
254-742-9710
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