Sereysothea Sao: Breaking the Glass Ceiling in the Male-Dominated Field of Agribusiness
Scholars on an Australia Awards Scholarship are offered a variety of professional development and learning opportunities outside of the degree they are completing. Sereysothea Sao, who was studying a Master of Global Food & Agricultural Business degree at the University of Adelaide, jumped at the chance to attend the International Tropical Agriculture Conference (TropAg) in Brisbane. Sothea recognised it as a unique opportunity to gain important insights into how to enhance sustainable agricultural systems to supply the current and future demands of the agriculture and food sectors.
Hosted by the University of Queensland’s Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation in partnership with the Queensland Government, TropAg celebrates scientific research success stories and explores how the tropics will address challenges in the future. Sothea attended the 3-day conference in 2019 which had over 300 speakers and welcomed delegates from over 50 countries. Sothea packed in as many sessions as she could, keen to absorb as much new information as possible.
The conference covered five industry streams – field crops, livestock, food and nutrition, horticulture and AgFutures. Real life examples enabled Sothea to see the value for agriculture in Cambodia, including a case study about using multi-scale monitoring tools to manage mango crops in Australia. Sothea was surprised at the scale of agribusiness in Australia, and how such a varied geography and climate means that each state has different priorities in developing their agriculture and food industries. She also noted the unwavering efforts of farmers and other stakeholders from across all States to succeed through cooperation. She observed; “there is such strong collaboration between academic institutes, research centers, agribusinesses and government bodies in developing the Australian agriculture and food industry…furthermore, many Australian academic and research centers collaborate with other international organisations to promote bio-security and sustainable practices”.
Sothea understood the benefits of making new contacts and networking with a range of experts and stakeholders. Developing such networks opens up new doors to business, research, new technologies and information sharing. During the conference, she met and discussed pertinent issues with Australian and international change leaders including government representatives, researchers, PhD students, livestock and farmers associations, institutions and businesses. She made connections with Australian research and innovation centres like Hort Innovation and Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia.
Sothea acknowledges that women leaders in the agricultural industry are few and far between, but that things are slowly changing. She greatly valued the insights, knowledge and contacts she gained attending TropAg, but in particular appreciated the learning from her female colleagues, who have inspired her to work even harder to achieve her goals.
Sothea was awarded Young Leadership Award 2020 by the Australian Alumni Association of Cambodia for her contribution to Cambodia. She also won the Young Social Entrepreneurs Global 2021 program, teaming up with Somalen Sao to launch Khmer Super Plantfood. They received a grant to expand their company to combat post-harvest income losses among small farming communities by using solar technology to transform unwanted fruits and nuts into nutrient-dense snack options. In addition to managing her start-up business, Sothea also currently works as the Trade Promotion Manager at the Cambodia-Australia Agricultural Value Chain (CAVAC) program. The program is funded by the Australian government to promote a commercially viable, resilient agriculture sector supporting inclusive growth in Cambodia.
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Sereysothea Sao: Breaking the Glass Ceiling in the Male-Dominated Field of Agribusiness
Scholars on an Australia Awards Scholarship are offered a variety of professional development and learning opportunities outside of the degree they are completing. Sereysothea Sao, who was studying a Master of Global Food & Agricultural Business degree at the University of Adelaide, jumped at the chance to attend the International Tropical Agriculture Conference (TropAg) in Brisbane. Sothea recognised it as a unique opportunity to gain important insights into how to enhance sustainable agricultural systems to supply the current and future demands of the agriculture and food sectors.
Hosted by the University of Queensland’s Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation in partnership with the Queensland Government, TropAg celebrates scientific research success stories and explores how the tropics will address challenges in the future. Sothea attended the 3-day conference in 2019 which had over 300 speakers and welcomed delegates from over 50 countries. Sothea packed in as many sessions as she could, keen to absorb as much new information as possible.
The conference covered five industry streams – field crops, livestock, food and nutrition, horticulture and AgFutures. Real life examples enabled Sothea to see the value for agriculture in Cambodia, including a case study about using multi-scale monitoring tools to manage mango crops in Australia. Sothea was surprised at the scale of agribusiness in Australia, and how such a varied geography and climate means that each state has different priorities in developing their agriculture and food industries. She also noted the unwavering efforts of farmers and other stakeholders from across all States to succeed through cooperation. She observed; “there is such strong collaboration between academic institutes, research centers, agribusinesses and government bodies in developing the Australian agriculture and food industry…furthermore, many Australian academic and research centers collaborate with other international organisations to promote bio-security and sustainable practices”.
Sothea understood the benefits of making new contacts and networking with a range of experts and stakeholders. Developing such networks opens up new doors to business, research, new technologies and information sharing. During the conference, she met and discussed pertinent issues with Australian and international change leaders including government representatives, researchers, PhD students, livestock and farmers associations, institutions and businesses. She made connections with Australian research and innovation centres like Hort Innovation and Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia.
Sothea acknowledges that women leaders in the agricultural industry are few and far between, but that things are slowly changing. She greatly valued the insights, knowledge and contacts she gained attending TropAg, but in particular appreciated the learning from her female colleagues, who have inspired her to work even harder to achieve her goals.
Sothea was awarded Young Leadership Award 2020 by the Australian Alumni Association of Cambodia for her contribution to Cambodia. She also won the Young Social Entrepreneurs Global 2021 program, teaming up with Somalen Sao to launch Khmer Super Plantfood. They received a grant to expand their company to combat post-harvest income losses among small farming communities by using solar technology to transform unwanted fruits and nuts into nutrient-dense snack options. In addition to managing her start-up business, Sothea also currently works as the Trade Promotion Manager at the Cambodia-Australia Agricultural Value Chain (CAVAC) program. The program is funded by the Australian government to promote a commercially viable, resilient agriculture sector supporting inclusive growth in Cambodia.