Gender Diversity at IFA: Highlights of 2024
As summer begins in the northern hemisphere and IFA prepares for a busy fall, the Gender Task Force takes the opportunity to pause and reflect on a busy first half of 2024, whose highlights were two communications campaigns and a successful Gender session at the Annual Conference.
#InspireInclusion
IFA kicked off its gender diversity activities in February with a global #InspireInclusion campaign. The theme, coined for International Women’s Day, sought to inspire a more inclusive world for women and provide them with a sense of belonging and empowerment. This theme is especially relevant to the agricultural sector, where the gender gap remains a critical issue to overcome, and resonated with many IFA members who are trying to empower women inside and outside the factory gates.
Each week running up to International Women’s Day on March 8, IFA showcased members’ initiatives from Colombia, Pakistan, North America, Australia and Nigeria, which are all contributing to a more inclusive world for women.
Visit our #InspireInclusion page to read about these initiatives. Contributions to the campaign are still accepted. To submit your company initiative, please contact Margot Clifford.
Gender session at IFA2024
Gender sessions have become staples of IFA’s Annual Conferences since the 2019 event in Montréal. Each session has explored gender diversity in the industry through different lenses, including its power to attract and retain diverse talent, and the business opportunities tied with inclusive workplaces.
The session at the 2024 Annual Conference in Singapore took stock of the progress achieved since the first Gender session and its inception and defined paths for further progress.
Moderated by Alzbeta Klein, IFA CEO/Director General, the session started with a keynote from Ms. Fernanda Lopes Larsen, EVP of Africa & APAC of Yara International, who shared her perspectives on the three I’s of diversity – intention, involvement and inclusion.
This was followed by the first panel, which focused on the advancement of gender diversity and inclusion in fertilizer companies, and featured Seelan Gobalsamy of Omnia Holdings, Jana Plananska of Norge Mining, Priyanka Jain of Valency International Pte Ltd., and Simon Thomas VP Projects, Potash, of BHP. Together, they emphasized the importance of diverse hiring practices, creating an inclusive workplace environment, and setting measurable goals for representation.
The second and last panel, composed of Fawad Mukhtar of Fatima Fertilizer Company Limited, and Hiti Taluja of Agriflex Pty Ltd, focused on their companies’ deliberate approaches to community engagement (including Fatima Fertilizer’s pioneering female farmer support program) and how they also provide support for their women employees.
To open and close the session, IFA shared video testimonials of leading women of the industry, shot on the occasion of International Women’s Day. Visit IFA’s YouTube channel to watch these videos.
Reflections on a changing industry
This last campaign, launched in early June, followed the theme of the IFA2024 Gender session and built on the video testimonials shared during the Annual Conference. Each week in June, IFA released two testimonials shot on the occasion of International Women’s Day, asking them how they felt the industry had progressed in its inclusion of women, their wish for International Women’s Day 2030 and how they felt companies could accelerate their journey towards greater diversity.
We thank Fernanda Dias (NAQ Global), Hadar Sutovsky (ICL Fertilizers), Linda Dempsey (CF Industries, Inc), Nada El Majdoub (OCP Nutricrops S.A.), Nathalie Skovholt (Yara International) and Anna Wilkes ( Ravensdown Ltd), Noralee Bradley (Nutrien) and Emily Pearce Rayner (Nutrien) for their participation and powerful insights.
As we wrap up a successful beginning of 2024, we thank members for their support, and invite all those interested in these themes to participate in the Task Force. To do so, or to find out more information, please contact Margot Clifford.
