Change and Diversity: Opportunities for and Constraints on Rural Women in New Zealand
MAF Policy Technical Paper 97/11
ISSN 1171-4662
ISBN 0-478-07458-1
By: Mary-Jane Rivers, Ann Pomeroy, Dianne Buchan, Brian Pomeroy and Rachel Fogarty
Disclaimer
While every effort has been made to ensure that the information in this publication is accurate, the Ministry of Agriculture does not accept any responsibility or liability for error of fact, omission, interpretation or opinion which may be present, nor for the consequences of any decision based on this information.
Reprinting of material from this report is welcomed (except for commercial use or on advertising or promotional material), provided proper acknowledgement is made to the source.
Comments on the contents of this paper, including errors of fact, omission and interpretation, would be appreciated and should be directed to:
MAF Policy
Ministry of Agriculture
PO Box 2526
Wellington
Telephone (04) 894 0100
Facsimile (04) 474 4163
Requests for further copies should be directed to:
Manager
MAF Information Bureau
PO Box 2526
Wellington
Telephone (04) 894 0100
Facsimile (04) 894 0720
Foreword
This research report has been in the making for some years. It began as MAF’s key contribution to the celebration of the centennial of universal suffrage in New Zealand and involved several steps. One of these was analysing the 250 replies to a questionnaire which accompanied copies of the Scoping Report on the Contribution of Women to the Rural Economy undertaken by Mary-Jane Rivers in 1992. The questionnaire responses assisted in identifying the key issues of concern to rural and farm women within the context of their contribution to the economy. These issues became the focus of the current research which began in late 1993. Unfortunately, while the commissioned research was duly completed and a draft report prepared, finishing the report became for a time a casualty of the over-commitment of MAF’s Rural Affairs and Social Science Policy team. Effort has been made to update the report where more recent information has become available.
The report discusses the dramatic and rapid change which the processes of globalisation, technological advance, demographic change and economic reform have brought to rural New Zealanders. It looks at the paid work of rural women and the visibility of their unpaid work, their involvement in decision making, and how the media and advertising portray them. An analysis is made of the strategies which women (and men) can use to ensure that the work undertaken by rural women receives appropriate recognition, to increase their involvement in decision-making, and assist women and men to adjust to their changed roles and achieve their aspirations and goals. Finally the report reminds us why it is important that rural women should participate in the economy and why constraints which impact on their participation should be removed.
Despite the delay in publishing this report, work has continued on the facilitation phase of the project, based on the draft report. The facilitation programme consists of a series of focus group meetings at which groups of rural women and men, separately and together, discuss the research findings in light of their own experience. They then consider the actions which they can take to correct the problems identified. The facilitation programme, together with more recent research, has further enriched our understanding of the changes taking place in rural New Zealand and the impact these are having on the lives of rural women and men.
While it is not usual to document facilitation programmes, the interest which this one has generated has led to the decision to prepare a short report of the facilitation process for publication. Where possible this will include information on how people deal with the issues they identify as a consequence of their involvement in the programme. One action planned by MAF is to implement some activities involving the media, in partnership with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, for World Rural Women’s Day on 15 October each year.
Dr Ann Pomeroy
Manager Rural Affairs
Ministry of Agriculture
15 October 1997
Contact for Enquiries
Rural Affairs Coordinator
Sector Performance Policy
MAF Policy
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
PO Box 2526
Wellington
NEW ZEALAND
Phone: +64 4 894 0675
Fax: +64 4 4 894 0745
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