The Power of Storytelling for Women in Agriculture

By Emily Davies, Chief Operating Officer at Just Farmers™

A lady smiles at the camera. — Emily Davies (Just Farmers)

When I was a little girl, my dad told me a story about Marmalade, how the sweet, tangy fruit preserve, got its name:

‘A farmer was eating an unnamed orange jam... just as he was tucking in to his breakfast, his wife burst into the kitchen brandishing a huge egg: “Look what our hen Marma laid!” she exclaimed. Looking down at the nameless jam, the farmer had an idea - he would name the sticky orange substance after this moment and call it Marmalade.’

The story is, of course, absolute nonsense (‘marmalade’ comes from the Portuguese word marmelada, which means quince paste) regardless, it was a story I never forgot; it had great imagery, a hint of peril, I could relate it to the food on my plate and it had a funny punchline at the end.

As a result, it’s a story that stuck with me, and one that 37 years later I take great joy in telling my three-year-old son.

Why am I telling you this? Because I genuinely believe that storytelling is one of the most powerful tools that we as humans have - and whilst women in agriculture are being celebrated to mark International Year of the Woman Farmer, I wanted to highlight the specific importance of women telling their own stories - because they can use them to challenge biases, foster empathy, and reclaim historical narratives.

Narratives that in the past, may have been written by others.

A camera operator films two people talking outdoors, with one woman holding a microphone. They are standing on grass beside a paved area, with a sports field and trees in the background. — Just Farmers Media Education workshop in Yorkshire, May 2026 (Just Farmers)

We all know that stories have been used to hand down knowledge for thousands of years, and this is because a good story engages our emotions, curiosity, and imagination.

They are one of the first ways we make sense of the world; helping us make informed decisions, learn facts and figures, they can even strengthen and challenge our opinions.

But as you can see in the case of Marma the hen, not all stories are true, they can be claimed and re-told by others and can often be misinterpreted - and in the increasingly polarised world of competing agendas and echo chambers that we live in today - it is very easy for the wrong type of story to spread; one that is full of fake news and misinformation.

Thanks to artificial intelligence, the line between fiction and reality is blurring, and due to the speed in which information is shared these days, we are reminded of that famous line: “a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on" - (a line, that I should add has been misattributed to both Winston Churchill and Mark Twain, with no one really knowing it’s true origin.)

Four people sit around a table recording a podcast or interview, while a man wearing headphones adjusts the audio equipment. — Just Farmers Media Education workshop in Yorkshire, May 2026 (Just Farmers)

So why as women working in agriculture should we care about the power of storytelling?

Because that’s how the general public gets its information: through the stories told in the media and online.

The media and your own social media channels are the bridge between producer and consumer which is why having the skills and confidence to tell your own stories in your own words is so important.

When you’re able to tell your own story about what you do, you can build agency, claim your power and generally boost the visibility of women working in agriculture - we can build each other up, appreciate successes, and recognise each other’s strengths - and what better time to do it than the International Year of the Women Farmer?

As Chief Operating Officer for Just Farmers™ Community Interest Company, I help farmers and growers think like storytellers, so that they can understand what makes a story and how to tell it, whether it’s for social media, television, radio, podcast or print.

We run unique and fully-funded Media Education workshops led by working journalists and industry professionals which are open to all farmers and growers, from any sector, size and scale.

A woman and a man sit at a table, speaking into a microphone positioned. — Just Farmers Media Education workshop in Yorkshire, May 2026 (Just Farmers)

And we have helped almost 60 women across the UK (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) learn how to communicate their stories through our free Media Education Workshops since 2018.

Whilst we don’t have any workshops on the immediate horizon, we are looking for interest from Scottish farmers and growers (male and female) to express their interest for a potential workshop in Scotland in October 2027 (if you’re interested please do get in touch with us: info@justfarmers.org).

In the meantime, I urge you to check us out via our website: www.justfarmers.org and to consider the power of your own story… think about how you can use your own personal social media platforms to raise awareness of the role that you play in agriculture, and how you can use the International Year of the Woman Farmer to close gender gaps, raise awareness of the role of women in agrifood systems, as well as the challenges they face, and use the power of storytelling to improve women’s livelihoods worldwide.

Emily Davies is Chief Operating Officer at Just Farmers™, a Community Interest Company that delivers free Media Education workshops to individuals working in agriculture.