The Museo do Pobo Galego was chosen as the venue for the organization of the first session held within the 'SAVES Report on Agrarian Cooperatives,' an activity carried out collaboratively by the University of Vigo (UVigo) and the Galician Association of Agri-Food Cooperatives (AGACA). This is part of the SAVES proyect (Virtual Assistance System for Cooperativism and Social Economy), a pioneering digital platform launched by the university entity in 2019.
The welcome to the session was given by Higinio Mougán, manager of AGACA, who emphasized the continuous collaboration maintained for more than 20 years between the association he directs and the University of Vigo. He particularly highlighted the collaboration with one of the coordinators of the SAVES project, Professor and researcher María José Cabaleiro, to whom he handed over the floor.
Cabaleiro began her intervention by thanking all the women in the audience and then presented some preliminary figures from the study her team is conducting on the presence of women in Galician agri-food cooperatives. The study is based on information deposited by cooperatives in the Galician Cooperative Register. Although the work is not finished, some of the figures suggest optimism. The percentage of women members of agricultural cooperatives in Galicia, according to the collected data, is close to 50%, and concerning the representation of women on the governing boards of entities, the data is not as negative as one might expect, with percentages exceeding 46%. However, she pointed out that there are many differences between cooperatives and also among different sectors, with the dairy sector showing greater parity, followed by the wine sector. In concluding her intervention, the researcher encouraged cooperative entities to engage in direct dialogue with the SAVES project team to implement and improve platform tools to respond to the sector's needs.
Higinio Mougán then took the floor again and highlighted the positive surprise produced by the data presented by Professor Cabaleiro. He emphasized that, in any case, the figures related to women and agro-cooperativism in Galicia are clearly positive compared to those of the whole of Spain. There are even autonomous communities where the presence of women in this type of cooperative is almost anecdotal. Before moving on to the next speakers, he wanted to make the audience reflect by posing some questions, such as whether women working in the agri-food sector do so by choice or because they do not have a better alternative, or what may be the reason for the lower presence of women in the governance bodies of cooperatives.
Following the interventions of Cabaleiro and Mougán, Loli Calvo, president of the association Nós, as Mulleres and president of the Condes de Albarei cooperative, and Carmen Rodríguez, president of AGACA and the Mulleres de Seu, and vice president of CLUN, addressed the audience. Both have extensive experience in the cooperative movement and agreed that, in the path being taken to improve the presence of women in the agricultural sector, the most important factors are training, awareness, and the implementation of initiatives aimed at motivating and empowering women. They emphasized making women aware of their training and importance within the agricultural cooperative ecosystem. Loli Calvo explained to the attending audience that this is the basis of the work carried out by the association she presides, Nós, as Mulleres, which emerged in 2019 within the Spanish association. Carmen Rodríguez also wanted to highlight the role played by her predecessors in improving the situation of women in cooperatives and the responsibility that current cooperative members have to be the mirror in which new generations look. She stressed the importance of feeling proud of the work they are doing to awaken the interest of the women who come after them.
The session concluded with a heartfelt tribute to Ana Vence for her more than 45 years of work in the Campo Capela cooperative. Vence briefly reviewed her career over this almost half a century and highlighted the enormous change that has occurred in the entity since her arrival when she was the only woman until the present times, where the number of women in the cooperative exceeds that of men. She concluded her participation by emphasizing that 'Being a cooperative member is a way of life and a way of thinking.' She pointed out that since people will always need other people, cooperation is fundamental.
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