Investing in women

Women living in rural communities and women in agriculture will benefit from two new schemes designed to address inequality and provide more opportunities.

The Women in Agriculture Practical Training Fund will give women in the agricultural industry the chance to develop their skills and talents with the help of £100,000 worth of training provided by the Scottish Government. The fund will be administered by Lantra Scotland and will provide practical, land-based skills training with full funding of up to £500 per course. Support for courses above this value will be assessed on a case by case basis by a review panel.

The second programme to support women in rural areas is the Women’s Rural Community Business Creation pilot scheme which is supported by £30,000 of Scottish Government funding and will work to address the rural gender pay gap by providing female-focused enterprise programmes.

Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing said:

“The pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on women’s jobs and incomes. We want to help provide women with new business skills, knowledge and confidence in their abilities.

“Through the training fund, we’re investing in their futures and ensuring that there is no gap in provision when it comes to upskilling women with technical agricultural knowledge and practical training experience.

“We anticipate that a majority of participants taking part in the Women’s Rural Community Business Creation pilot scheme will start a business after completing the course or take up further employment skills training or opportunities, bring more to our rural economy.”

Background

The Women in Agriculture Practical Training Fund is open to women resident in Scotland who are either working in agriculture, studying it, or who can demonstrate how a training course will support the development of their business or employment options.

Eligible training courses include environmental, technical, health and safety, plants and animals, business, machinery and equipment training. 

The fund is open from Monday 4^th January 2021, and applications should be made through Lantra Scotland.

The Women in Business Pilot aims to unlock the economic potential of 30 women (10 of which must be from the agricultural industry) based in more remote/rural local communities across Scotland, by providing a 10 week pilot comprising two hours learning per week.

During the pilot, participants will be able to attend virtually where they will be supported by trained DTAS facilitators. An online resource centre with exclusive access to additional resources will be provided to help participants throughout the pilot as will access to local experts including Business Gateway staff, GrowBiz enterprise facilitators and existing women business owners.