Rural women: the invisible face of family farming

He International Day of Rural Women It is commemorated on October 15 of each year. The date was established by the United Nations (UN) in 2007 with the purpose of highlighting the needs, priorities and contributions of this population.

According to the UN, rural women represent approximately a quarter of the world’s population, and their main source of employment is agriculture, a sector that is largely in the informal economy and with very low or non-existent labor rights.

According to the INEI, in Peru, There are more than 3.5 million women in rural areas.

The last National Agrarian Survey (ENA 2022) reveals that the percentage of female agricultural producers went from 29% in 2014 to 33.4% last year. The majority of them are found in the mountains, with 37.9% of the total, followed by the coast (27.6%) and the jungle (21.4%).

With a woman’s face

One of these women is Lucinda Quispealaya Salvatierra. She begins her day at 4:00 am in the rural community of Shicuy, in the district of San Juan de Jarpa (Junín). Her first task, as she wakes up, is to feed her animals. At an altitude of more than 3,800 meters above sea level, she is dedicated to raising cows, sheep, guinea pigs and chickens.

Afterwards, Lucinda prepares breakfast and lunch, sends her children to school, and milks her cows.

At 9:00 am, she arrives at the farm with her husband, carrying a pickaxe to till the land. Two hours later, she takes a single half-hour break and continues working without stopping until 3:00 pm. One hour later, she arrives at her house. While she prepares dinner, she takes care of her animals again and helps in selecting the seeds that she will use in the next day’s sowing. Her day ends around 11:00 pm Like this every day.

“It’s a work of more than 12 hours. We women are doubled in work, dedicating ourselves to taking care of the house, health and the farm in our homes,” says Lucinda, who is also president of the Regional Agrarian Federation of Junín.

In fact, it states that one of the main difficulties faced by the rural female population is the invisibility of their role in society. “Women in the countryside have the role of caring for the children, the farm and the care of the animals, and many times they are not made visible,” she says.

The manager of Conveagro also agrees on this point, Giovana Vasquezwho assures that, despite the importance of women in agriculture, their needs and challenges are overlooked. Which leads to them being left out of public policies.

Adding to this problem is the massive migration of the male population to the city, mining areas and abroad, leaving women at a disadvantage who cannot leave the countryside because they are left in charge of their children.

“Rural women come to the cities and Your chances of finding a job are more limited. There are fewer advantages to that incorporation and to being able to generate income. That is the main reason why men are more likely to emigrate,” says Vásquez.

For her part, Lucinda points out that this phenomenon has deprived many women of the possibility of accessing training or employment. Furthermore, she highlights that she has given a “woman’s face to family farming.”

A factor that also aggravates the vulnerability of women in rural areas is the early age at which they become motherswhich drastically reduces your chances of improving your quality of lifesays Quispeayala.

In relation to this issue, Giovana Vásquez points out that in rural areas there is a high rate of illiteracy among women, which amplifies the gaps in terms of access to financing, technical assistance and land.

Currently, only 48.9% of women dedicated to agriculture completed primary education, in contrast to 52.7% of men. Furthermore, the figures reveal that only 33.7% of women own land, compared to 66.3% of men. Likewise, only 26% have received training and only 24.2% requested any type of credit.

In this sense, Vásquez emphasizes that it is necessary that from the Government include exclusive budgets for rural women, training in Gender approach and services designed specifically to meet your needs throughout the country.

Projects are not enough

Approach. Lucila Quintana, national coordinator of the National Coffee Board

In the rural sector there is a greater accentuation of the female presence within the activities. There, rural women are totally exposed to the climate vulnerability that we are experiencing now. The lack of connectivity also affects.

Furthermore, in any agricultural and livestock product, The woman is the one who bears the greatest responsibilitywhich is too accepted, since they have no other choice.

What exists is that also, within the participation that women have in the field to guarantee the productive process, they do not have an intention to mechanize the field with basic production instruments to lighten their effort.

There is no mechanization in the field, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, there is no financial inclusion for them, except for some programs on National Strategy of Rural Women who have implemented.

In this condition, there are projects that are involving women, but they are not entirely sufficient.