| Izah Azahari |
WOMEN provide more than 50 per cent of food in the world and 43 per cent are from the field of agriculture, which sees women from ASEAN member countries – Thailand and the Philippines – as the most active in this field.
However, Brunei has about 5,545 entrepreneurs where women only make up four per cent of the total at 217, with the largest number in Tutong District (114) followed by Brunei-Muara District (88), Temburong (8) and Belait (7).
This was highlighted by Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB) Professor Dr Hajah Zohrah binti Haji Sulaiman in her lecture during the Premier Talk of the Knowledge Convention 2018 titled ‘Women as Supporters of National Aspiration in the Field of Agriculture’ at the Plenary Hall of the International Convention Centre (ICC), Berakas.
According to the vice-chancellor, 65.9 per cent of these entrepreneurs produce vegetables, fruits and various plants, while 12.4 per cent produce livestock, 11.5 per cent produce decorative plants and 0.46 per cent produce various commodities.
“The goal here is to achieve a change in perception within the audience that consist of mothers, spouses, and youth who may not have jobs in agriculture as a career or as a more positive source of income, to equally support the country’s intention to make the agricultural sector contribute to survivability of race and nation,” said the vice-chancellor.
The vice-chancellor also noted that during Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) time, women shepherded livestock like goats, sheep, cattle and buffalo as their economic source, and through carrying out the shepherding activity, women could produce income for themselves, their families and thus generate income for the country’s economy.
“The involvement of women in the shepherding activities of goats and sheep shows that women are also worked to earn an income like men did,” said the vice-chancellor. “This shows that it is not only men who did outdoor activities, but women were also able to perform the same activities to find a source of income to generate household economics.”
The vice-chancellor added that during the Prophet’s time, women also carried out planting activities such as planting dates, which brings further conclusion that women also play an important role in farming activities to be able to have large gardens for such activities, allowing women to hold high dignity during the prophet’s time.
The Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism through the Department of Agriculture and Agrifood will focus on implementing key strategies through initiatives and incentives such as offering entrepreneurial sites, offering additional sites, converting modern and high-tech systems and providing technical advice.
The vice-chancellor added that UTB functions to produce human resources in agriculture and related fields, through carrying out research to support the country’s agricultural development.