‘Bit of a big deal’ as Australian woman first to be elected deputy of world farming body

Former National Farmers Federation president Fiona Simson has become the first Australian elected as the vice president of the World Farmers’ Organisation. 

The Liverpool Plains, NSW, woman was first elected to the board last year, and was elevated to vice president during a general assembly meeting in Rome this week.

Ms Simson woke up to the news, after being unable to attend the assembly in person.

“I woke up yesterday morning and found that I’d been voted in overnight,” she said.

“It’s very, very exciting.” 

The World Farmers’ Organisation advocates for the sector on issues ranging from the global dialogue on agriculture to nutrition and sustainability.

“It brings together farmer groups from right around the world,” Ms Simson said.

“A massive number of countries and farmers are at the table and want to ensure that we can continue to achieve our ambitious targets.” 

Ms Simson said she was excited to see Australia get a seat at the head of the table.

“Here in the southern hemisphere, it’s sometimes really hard to participate fully in some of these global organisations,” she said.

“The World Farmers is headquartered in Rome, so for northern Europeans, it’s a bit easier for them to participate in many of the events.

“It’s a bit of a big deal for us to get there, but I’m sure that we will again and keep sending representatives.”

From Armidale to a global stage

Ms Simson grew up on a farm near Armidale in the north-west of NSW. She pursued a corporate career before stepping into local government roles while continuing her farming.

She was president of the NSW Farmers Association from 2011 to 2015 and was elected the first female president of the National Farmers Federation in 2016 before stepping down last year. 

Ms Simson said Australia had a small but important voice in global agriculture.

“Australian farmers just have to make sure that our voice is really, really heard,” she said.

“We are only a small country, a small voice in many of the global debates.

“But we are absolutely dependent on the rest of the world for a lot of our markets and a lot of the things we use, not just on our farms in terms of machinery but in the community as well.

“It’s important that our voice is out there and it’s important that we’re able to use it in a way that we can influence discussion and debate.”

Ms Simson said climate change and biodiversity challenges were among the issues confronting farmers. 

“We need to actually increase average agricultural productivity by 28 per cent over the next decade whilst we struggle with all these other issues as well, which are, of course, climate change, sustainability, loss of biodiversity,” she said.

“A mixed bag of issues is affecting farmers globally. We need to unite and speak with one voice.

A lot of these issues do have to be led by farmers.

“Farmers are part of the solution and we need to be at the table.”