About the day

by Jo Dean

What a truly inspiring day we shared in Deniyaya as the Milk Coop Society and Australian Volunteers Program came together to celebrate the UN International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026 at Sharni’s Residence.

A total of 40 participants joined the event including 35 farmers — 33 of whom were women farmers — representing 15 farmer groups from across the region. A day of learning, sharing, celebrating and building friendships unfolded. The morning began in a relaxing, open venue overlooking beautiful hillsides of rainforest and tea that surround Deniyaya. Farmers met, shared stories and enjoyed cool drinking water served in paper cups from a traditional terracotta clay oya.

The room was beautifully decorated with locally picked flowers, colourful displays of locally grown fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices. All were presented in handmade cane baskets and plates made from compressed areca nut palm fibre.

Pages from the Nourishing Peace Cookbook Project decorated the walls, celebrating the knowledge and recipes being shared by local women.

Women farmers proudly displayed their farm produce, spices, mushrooms, preserved food, handicrafts, sewing and other products in an inter-group pop-up market. Most of the products were sold during the day. Fresh produce was purchased for the afternoon community cooking session.