Empowering change

When Riana Cochrane fell into a role in the horticulture industry, she didn’t know it would lead to a “transformation” within herself.

She had studied a Certificate IV in Accounting at Sunraysia Institute of TAFE, and Cardross-based table grape producer Sylina was looking for a bookkeeper.

Soon after taking on the role, Riana discovered that it was actually the horticultural aspect of the job that “excited” her.

“I never had much to do with farming

and I’ve come into it, but I feel like I’m a quick learner and I take a lot in so it’s really helped me to be where I am today,” Riana said.

As she became more familiar with the industry and the job, Sylina owner Pat Cufari structured her role around what she was good at – and Riana began to take more leadership and responsibility.

“I got the feeling that I was obviously good at what I was doing, so it was really exciting and a confidence boost,” she said.

Almost three years on, and the agricultural administration coordinator at Sylina is challenging herself further – having received a Hort Innovation scholarship for the Leading Edge program through Women & Leadership Australia (WLA).

The course is part of a five-year joint funding arrangement between WLA and Hort Innovation designed specifically to offer women in the sector access to leadership development programs.

“It sparked my interest because it was aimed at building up women’s leadership skills,” Riana said.

“It’s really awesome that WLA is trying to encourage women to step up and have the ability and confidence and knowledge to step up into those roles.

“The scholarship has been great too, because not everyone has the ability or resources to do it (so it’s helpful for people to be able to access funds that make it possible).”

Riana’s participation in the program, and her role in horticulture, is helping create change and greater diversity in the sector.

Census data showed women made up only 30 per cent of Australia’s agricultural workforce in 2016. While the number of women studying agriculture in higher education was increasing, many never go on to work in the sector.

Women have been previously, according to the Queensland Farmers’ Federation, less likely to selfidentify as farmers or farm workers, and therefore were less visible to government and policymakers, which WLA and Hort Innovation, as well as campaigns like the Invisible Farmer Project, are tackling.

Four years into the five-year WLA and Hort Innovation project, 39 women from the Australian horticulture sector have either completed, are currently undertaking, or about to start a WLA leadership development program.

Three programs are on offer for women of varying leadership experience, with $600,000 committed to scholarships over the life of the project.

For Riana, the skills she’s already gained are helping her change the way she thinks.

As one of the faces of Sylina, Riana is constantly in contact with people, attending grower meetings, liaising with farm workers and managers, agronomists, chemical companies, exporters and much more.

She said the face-to-face element of the program has helped her understand how to communicate with different types of people.

“It explored the four different personality types, and then showed how to interact with those personality types, so it helps you change the way you communicate with certain people, because certain people may respond better this way,” she said.

Riana assists with a lot of the operations, ensuring things run smoothly, and has to undertake a workplace project as part of the program, which she said will focus on transitioning to a scan on/scan off system for Sylina’s farm workers.

Being able to implement innovative ideas and come up with her own has been a highlight of the program for Riana, as has developing her network.

While she’s not sure yet what she’d like to do with the tools she’s been given and the skills she’s cultivating in the long-term, Riana is determined to take on more accountability and responsibility.

“I am not per cent sure what I’d like to do, but it would be very good to be the administration for the whole running of the farm,” she said. “I do a tiny snippet currently, but I’d love to take that whole role on and be able to oversee all of it.”

With a part-time commitment of two hours per week, the five-month program combines webinars, faceto-face workshops and self-directed learning tasks, and helps women redefine their role and value to their organisation while building them up for leadership opportunities.

Riana said that, although she found it difficult on occasion to find the motivation, she embraced the knowledge, skills and connections she was developing.

“There are a lot of industries that are male-based,” she said.

“It can be hard for women in those industries who want to climb the ladder, so it’s good to have these tools behind you while trying to do that.” v

“It sparked my interest because it was aimed at building up women’s leadership skills,” Riana said.