Jiangsu, China, Nov. 18, 2019 — Corteva Agriscience today launched its inaugural Rural Women social welfare campaign with China’s leading newspaper — Southern Weekly —and Jiangsu Province Jianhu County People’s Government and Women's Federation. Themed as “Her strength for homeland”, the campaign aims to pay homage to women living in China’s rural areas who live colorful lives and promote rural revitalization, putting a stage light on their achievements. It also demonstrates Corteva’s long-term commitment in advocating gender equality in rural areas, improving women's working environments and empowering women around the world.
“In rural areas, women have made great contributions to local agriculture and society as a whole. With tenacity, practicality, and productivity, they are the winds of hope that sway the crops of China’s fields,” said Peter Huang, President of Corteva Agriscience in China. “By paying attribution to their achievement, we hope to help the public better understand the contribution that China’s rural female population has made to the country’s agriculture, so as to lay a strong foundation for improvements in the working environments of rural women, thus promoting agricultural sustainability.”
In order to better carry out the Rural Women Her Power campaign, Corteva and Jianhu County also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on improving local farmers' planting skills and promoting rural development and revitalization.
"Creating prosperity and bringing colorful lives to farmers is a common vision for both Corteva and Jianhu County," said Mr. Ni Shiyong, Director of publicity department of Jianhu county, “The campaign has set up an excellent platform for our further cooperation with Corteva. We expect that Corteva Agriscience will further integrate its world-leading agriscience with our local needs to improve Jianhu women's productivity and empower the local rural revitalization process."
“Her strength for homeland”, mirroring the lifestyle of rural Chinese women
According to data released by UN Women1, 75% of China's agricultural labor force is female. Rural women play an important role in the agricultural production chain and are the key to subjects like food security, nutrition supply and land & water preservation. However, gender equality in rural areas lacks support and there is little perception of the heavy work that rural women do. As such, rural women have low awareness of their own value within the grander scheme.
Corteva has long been a believer in the tenet that maintaining gender equality and improving the working environment of rural women is crucial to the sustainable development of agriculture. With a view to enhancing the public's attention and support for rural women, the Her Power campaign will be the first in the series and will cover the whole country via online access. With a focus on the efforts and strength of rural women in agricultural production, participants will be encouraged to go from behind the scenes to center stage and showcase their unique and colorful lifestyles. As a warm up initiative, the Weibo hashtag #Her strength for homeland, social welfare campaign# has received extensive attention.
It is currently harvest season for rice and in a half-day offline campaign, hundreds of farming women, villagers, Corteva Agriscience employees and collaborators from Jianhu participated in a number of planting skill competitions, including paddy field yield measurement, a rice harvesting speed competition, straw rope spinning and crab bundling, as well as an agricultural handicraft competition. In addition, for an online session of the campaign, Corteva, together with Southern Weekly, is holding an online photography contest with the central theme of "Most Beautiful Farmland". The winners and the stories behind the campaign will be published on Southern Weekly platforms in late November.
Series global social welfare activities debuted in China
Rural Women campaign in China is not only a milestone that allows Corteva to join hands with collaborators in China to actively fulfill its corporate social responsibility, it is also a witness of its series of social welfare activities to celebrate the International Day of Rural Women first landing in China.
As a global leading enterprise focused on agriculture and aiming to enrich the lives of farmers, Corteva is committed to advocating gender equality and improving the working environment of rural women. Every year around the International Day of Rural Women (October 15), Corteva carries out a series of social welfare activities to show the great value and achievements of women in agriculture to the public around the world, and appeals for the rights and interests of female practitioners in agriculture.
On last year’s International Day of Rural Women, Corteva released a global survey, covering 17 countries, including China, in order to understand the living situation of women in agriculture around the world, identify the barriers to women's development and success in agricultural production, and to make a call to all of society to invest more both educationally and financially.
About Corteva Agriscience
Corteva Agriscience is a publicly traded, global pure-play agriculture company that provides farmers around the world with the most complete portfolio in the industry - including a balanced and diverse mix of seed, crop protection and digital solutions focused on maximizing productivity to enhance yield and profitability. With some of the most recognized brands in agriculture and an industry-leading product and technology pipeline well positioned to drive growth, the company is committed to working with stakeholders throughout the food system as it fulfills its promise to enrich the lives of those who produce and those who consume, ensuring progress for generations to come. Corteva Agriscience became an independent public company on June 1, 2019, and was previously the Agriculture Division of DowDuPont. More information can be found at www.corteva.com.
Follow Corteva Agriscience on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.
®, TM, SM Trademarks and service marks of Dow AgroSciences, DuPont or Pioneer, and their affiliated companies or their respective owners.
# # #
1 UN Women,Gender Issues in Agriculture and Rural Employment in Wenchuan: The Place of Women