A founder of a new project aiming to foster greater participation of Tongan women in agriculture says females are a huge asset to the country and need to be given more opportunities in this sector.
The Women in Agriculture Media project is targetting better two way communication between women in Tongan agriculture and official information providers, as well as taking up opportunities in New Zealand markets.
Anthony Haas of the New Zealand-based Centre for Citizenship Education says he got the idea for the project when talking to a New Zealand importer.
"He said, I'm terribly impressed by the effectiveness of the women: they are great workers, they are better than the men, much more reliable, dainty fingers make them much more effective at pollinating. I'll tell you the product - the product was vanilla. He was in the vanilla business, and he saw the strength of his women workers. That's what made me feel: hey, here's a positive story here, here's something we can build on."
Anthony Haas
