GAIA EPICHEIREIN’s informational event in Brussels for the young women in agriculture

The event held within the framework of the CAP4Youth project, entitled “Delivering Generational Renewal through the CAP: Next Generation Female Farmers”, provided a meaningful opportunity to highlight and discuss one of the most critical issues concerning the future of European agriculture: how the agricultural sector can become a truly attractive, sustainable and realistic career choice for the younger generation, with particular emphasis on young women.

The discussion highlighted different, yet complementary, perspectives, contributing to a multidimensional dialogue on generational renewal and the role of women in agriculture.

Elli Tsiforou, Secretary General of COPA COGECA, stressed that strengthening the participation of the new generation of women farmers in the agricultural sector is not only a matter of equality, but also a strategic priority for the future of the Common Agricultural Policy and for the resilience of European agriculture.

Raschad Al-Khafaji, Director of the Brussels Office of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), presented the FAO’s global perspective, highlighting the need to develop systems that respond more effectively to the needs of young farmers and women farmers. His intervention focused on critical parameters such as access to finance, simplification of procedures, provision of advisory support, the use of data, and evidence-based policymaking.

The panel discussion, featuring Marion Picot, Viktoria Östlund, Ellen Temmink and Member of the European Parliament Sakis Arnaoutoglou, highlighted the practical barriers that young women continue to face when entering and remaining in the agricultural sector. These include access to land and finance, income stability, administrative complexity, work-life balance, and the need to make agriculture more attractive both socially and economically.

Maria Walsh, Member of the European Parliament and rapporteur on the Generational Renewal Strategy in the European Parliament, added a highly relevant policy dimension to the discussion. She underlined the need to address generational renewal as a broad and cross-cutting challenge, one that is not confined to CAP instruments alone, but is also linked to the wider conditions that make agriculture an attractive career choice and way of life.

On behalf of GAIA EPICHEIREIN, Chief Executive Officer Anestis Trypitsidis opened the event by presenting key findings from CAP4Youth’s recent survey among young farmers in Greece. The survey findings highlighted that generational renewal should also be examined through a gender perspective. Young women are already part of the future of agriculture; however, they continue to face distinct challenges regarding access to support instruments and the ability of CAP tools to effectively respond to their actual needs.

The key message of the event was clear: generational renewal cannot remain a general slogan. It requires concrete tools, collaboration, simplification, and a stronger focus on the people who will shape the future of European agriculture..

GAIA EPICHEIREIN implements the informational activity in the context of the CAP4Youth “CAP for Young Farmers: Generational Renewal and Sustainable Agriculture in Greece”, with the support of the Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Commission