United in the pursuit of gender equality
The recent nuptials of Cambodian agricultural scientists Vouchsim Kong and Dr Vutey Venn signifies a true marriage of hearts and minds.
And the newly-weds hope their relationship serves as an example for how gender equality can be achieved in the home, workplace and broader society.
Mr and Mrs Venn were formally united during a traditional Khmer ceremony in April, having first met at an international conference in Thailand in 2012. After becoming colleagues at the Royal University of Agriculture (RUA), their paths diverged while Venn completed his PhD in Italy (from 2013-16) and Vouchsim completed an exchange master program in Austria and her Masters in Australia. However, in 2017 the pair began serving together on a Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) technical working group, would often attend the same meetings and workshops, and collaborated to publish two research papers. When Vouchsim applied for a prestigious Meryl Williams Fellowship (MWF), funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), Venn was a natural choice for mentor.
Although he didn't dare confess it to Vouchsim for many years, Venn says it was love at first sight for him. Their shared research interests - Vouchsim in food science and food safety, and Venn in veterinary public health, biochemistry and molecular biology- only served to strengthen the connection.
"Marriage to Vouchsim is the third goal of my life, following completing my PhD and building a home for my mother," Venn says. "Having Vouchsim as a research partner and life partner is truly a blessing.
"She has taught me a great deal about breaking down gender barriers for women in Cambodian society and them having the same opportunities for education and professional development as men. Although she has overcome challenges and hardships, Vouchsim has never given up. She is a role model to her family and juniors at the faculty. Her younger brother and male cousins have tried their best in high school and gained scholarships to university the same as Vouchsim. Some of the more junior females in her faculty have also followed her advice and got scholarships to study abroad. I am proud of the impact she has had, not only on her family, but also on society."
Although Vouchsim and her family have always espoused equal opportunity for girls and women, personally and professionally, she says working in male-dominated agricultural environments was initially challenging.
"I had to be careful how I performed and prove that I was competent to be given the same opportunities as my male colleagues to express my ideas, lead teams and implement projects," she says. "Things have improved and we understand each other better now."
And Venn has been one of her greatest supporters.
"Venn always appreciates and admires gender equality and he strongly supports his family members, me, students and friends (especially the girls and women) seeking higher education," Vouchsim says. "He always contributes his best knowledge, experience and efforts to support me in education and agricultural research, and to provide emotional support. I think this indirectly influences the younger men we have worked with."
Venn says he has seen the disadvantage that women can face in education, health care, home care and especially employment in Cambodian society.
"There are fewer women studying agriculture or undertaking an agricultural research career," he says. "I strongly support more women engaging in agricultural research and I am happy to work with female colleagues and to see the number of women increasing. I make sure that I give equal opportunity to female and male students through time support, technical consultation and field work."
Venn and Vouchsim at the Meryl Williams Fellowship mentoring workshop, held at the University of New England, Sydney in February 2020.
Right now, emboldened by the development of her leadership and management skills through the MWF, Vouchsim is busy conducting research supported by ACIAR Alumni Research Support Facility (ARSF) project funding to investigate antimicrobial resistance in snakehead. Her work at the department also involves facilitating and providing technical support on the cashew value chain improvement project and the agricultural value chain competitiveness and safety enhancement project.
In addition to his own research, Venn is writing a biochemistry and molecular biology textbook in the Khmer language and planning two more textbooks. One, on the multi-disciplinary collaborative effort known as One Health (optimal health for people, animals and the environment), will include a section written by Vouchsim on food safety.
Together, the couple believe their individual specialties and research projects - Vouchsim at MAFF, and Venn at RUA -will bring collective benefits.
"Although our specialisations are different, we consider that our work may directly or indirectly contribute to food security and poverty reduction in Cambodia," Vouchsim says. "We will continue to be involved in developing guidelines, training manuals, strategic plans, and teaching students as much as possible, so that we can share our knowledge and experience."
Vouchsim conducting fieldwork for her cashew value chain improvement project.
Venn speaks at a workshop
The prestigious Meryl Williams Fellowship is funded by ACIAR and supports female agricultural researchers across the Indo-Pacific to improve their leadership and management skills. The Fellowship contributes to more secure food systems by providing women in agricultural science with greater access to resources and decision making, building collaborative networks, supporting career advancement and driving institutional progress towards gender equity.
The Alumni Research Support Facility (ARSF) was announced by ACIAR in April 2020 as a swift response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The ARSF enables research projects that build resilience and respond to the challenges the pandemic has presented to agriculture systems in ACIAR partner countries. More than 38 ARSF research projects are now well under way.
Through the ARSF program, ACIAR has been able to continue investing in global research collaborations as well as scientific and policy capacity building activities in a way that directly addresses the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ARSF is delivering the knowledge and technologies that underpin more productive and sustainable agricultural systems and more resilient food systems, for the benefit of developing countries and Australia.