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Photo credits: ABC North South and Southwest
Janet Brook believes it’s time for more recognition of women in agriculture. – ABC）
Outback women take the lead in dryland management
Michael Dulaney
Janet Brook has witnessed the slow resolution of many of the issues facing women in the Outback – from wildlife to gender politics and the tyranny of distance.
She lives with her husband Anthony and their four children on Cordillo Downs, an 8000 square kilometre cattle station in northeast South Australia.
For the past six years, Janet has served on the board of South Africa’s Drylands Natural Resource Management Agency (NRM), an organization dedicated to balancing the needs of the environment and remote area residents.
Last month, she travelled to the Dry Land Women’s Retreat in Mali with other women working in land management in rural South Australia to discuss issues facing pastoralism.
Janet told ABC North and West’s Sarah Tomlinson that the social aspect of retreats like this one helps change the traditional perception of farming as a male-dominated industry.
“I think we need to change the stereotype of men in agriculture, it’s absolutely not the case,” she said.
“Maybe in the past men were more visible and maybe women were more in the background, but I think that’s changing a lot over time.
“Women are getting more opportunities to participate, and maybe technology is helping with that.”
Janet said that while perceptions of gender roles in agriculture are slowly changing, the challenges facing natural resource managers have remained largely the same over the years.
Read the full article: ABC North South and Southwest
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