A&T Extension Specialists Attend International Conference

September 24, 1998

Greensboro, NC: Sheilda Sutton, Piedmont region coordinator, and Mary Mafuyai-Ekanem, small farms management specialist, of the North Carolina A&T State University Cooperative Extension Program attended the Second International Conference on Women in Agriculture, in Washington, DC.

The conference drew 1,000 women from 50 countries and focused on learning from experts and other conference delegates in order to help women become better businesswomen and policy makers. The program featured a number of prominent speakers, including Tipper Gore, wife of U.S. Vice President Al Gore, and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman.

With the assistance of USDA, Sutton and Mafuyai-Ekanem helped seven North Carolina female farmers earn scholarships to attend the event. They also conducted a workshop entitled, "Coordinating Extension for Women," during which Kim Berry, an A&T-based rural sociologist for USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Bernice Sessoms, director of the Women's Economic Alternative of Ahoskie, served as panelists.

According to Mafuyai-Ekanem, the NC A&T Cooperative Extension Program, due to its annual Women in Agriculture Symposium, is a recognized national leader in efforts targeted toward women in agriculture.

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For more information, contact Mary Mafuyai-Ekanem, North Carolina A&T State University Cooperative Extension Program, (336) 334-7024.