Country Life: Girls Who Grow bridging the urban-rural divide for young women

For most of the students taking part in Girls Who Grow, a new education programme just launched across the wider Wellington region, the primary sector is a "completely new world".

Catherine van der Muelen, who co-founded the programme with Aimee Blake, told Country Life the programme aims to "spark the imagination" of a much wider group of high school-aged girls including those who don't come from rural backgrounds.

It started as a pilot programme in Otago last year, when 150 local students were challenged to develop drought solutions for issues they had encountered during farm visits. This included students designing a new water filtration system for dairy farms, a tree lucerne project and vitamin and mineral capsule project.

Van der Meulen said it not only provides an opportunity for students from urban backgrounds to learn more about the variety of career opportunities in the primary sector but helps ease climate anxiety as they see they can be part of the solutions.

Girls Who Grow launched across the wider Wellington region, including Wairarapa, Horowhenua and Kāpiti, in Term 3 and Term 4 this year with support from WellingtonNZ.

Within the next year, the primary industry needs more than 25,000 new workers to help meet growing demand, according to the Ministry for Primary Industries. Yet just six percent of school leavers are likely to enter the sector, and even fewer of these are women who make up just 35 percent of the primary sector workforce.

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On a bright, sunny spring day in Wairarapa, a dozen or so girls from schools around the region including St Matthew's Collegiate, Solway and Kuranui College, had a chance to hear from some women who have already carved out a space for themselves in the primary sector.

Women like Katie Wyeth, who along with husband James, is converting a former dairy farm into a sheep and beef finishing property called Waioma just north of Masterton.

She told Country Life the industry had come a long way. A farm consultant, Wyeth still recalls the days when she had colleagues ask if she'd be okay making certain visits on her own as a woman.

"Now it's just so different and I'm stoked it's different."

Their own daughter is also looking to pursue a career in the primary sector and would be the fourth generation in her family to farm in Wairarapa. The couple are especially passionate about encouraging the next generation of growers and primary producers.

"I love getting involved in industry stuff. I mean the industry's been really good to James and I and we just see so many opportunities," Wyeth said.

"And we've also got lots of problems and challenges to solve too and the younger generation, you know, they're going to be such an important part of fixing some of our problems and taking our sector into the future."

She's conscious too, though, of the urban-rural divide.

"I think we've lost our connection.

"It used to be only one or two degrees' separation from a farm or a lot of kids spent their school holidays on a farm and that doesn't happen so much anymore. It doesn't take long before [you don't] understand how your food is produced."

Opening the farm up to the students provided a chance to open their eyes to new opportunities.

"You can light a little spark in there."

Encouraging the students to "get their hands dirty" with soil testing on the farm was the best way to engage farmers of any gender or level of experience, she said.

Water was a central theme underpinning each of the site visits as part of the Girls Who Grow on-farm "lunch and learn" experience.

At Waioma, students learned about drainage issues on the farm and the need to plant specific natives to support the stability of the land and prevent harmful run-off to nearby waterways.

Just down the road at Le Grá winery, students heard from Nicky and Brian Geary about how the Opaki Water Race played an important role in protecting the couple's vineyard from frosts and what might happen if the water race closes down.

Students also heard from nursery manager Rachel Scanlan at Akura Nursery. Run by the Greater Wellington Regional Council, it provides a wide range of native and exotic trees to farmers, lifestylers, landscapers and home gardeners, helping them choose the most suitable species for specific sites and functions - from riparian planting to reducing hill country erosion.

Van der Meulen said lessons from each of the three sites could be applied elsewhere.

"[We're] trying to support the students to understand different land use and how actually all those things can work collectively together."

She also hoped the variety of site visits would show students just how many different career opportunities existed, helping connect them to their purpose and to find a path that aligned with their values.

"It's not just about being on the land and being a farmer. Farming is just one component of agriculture and being able to open their eyes to lots of different industries," she said.

She felt the perception that agriculture is a male-dominated industry, coupled with increasing urbanisation, had hindered efforts to attract the next generation of young women.

Most of the students taking part in the on-farm "lunch and learn" experience came from non-farming families but found it had opened their eyes to new career opportunities that were environmentally focused, fun and interesting.

"There's so many opportunities for students," van der Meulen said. "Our role is to showcase all those different things and to connect them to the land whether they're living in an urban region or whether they're living out on a farm."

Projects designed by students this year as part of the Imagination Challenge Series will be brought to life next year and students are supported by Girls Who Grow mentors. The programme will also continue to be rolled out across the region with new schools coming on board from next year.

Learn more:

• To learn more about Girls Who Grow visit their website.