Latin America and the Caribbean

by M. Vargas

Introduction
1. The context of rural development
2. The overall situation of rural women in Latin America and the Caribbean
3 The situation of rural women by subregion
4. The social situation of women
5. Experiences in formulating policy targeting rural women
6. International cooperation initiatives
7. Recommendations
References

Introduction

The changing world social and economic situation today provides the possibility to eliminate food insecurity and malnutrition. This is dependent on each country adopting measures to integrate in the world economy and promoting equitable development that gives those who have traditionally been marginalized and excluded from the benefits of development greater access to such opportunities.

Here a mother is feeding her daughter with food bought in the park

Without the recognition of women's fundamental roles in development, however, it is impossible to break out of the circle of poverty and to guarantee food security to the poorest and most vulnerable populations of Latin America.

This chapter provides a proposal to promote the participation of rural women in food security, within the context of rural development, in Latin America and the Caribbean. It does so in the light of the accepted consensus that "the appropriate development of women does not stop at the individual level but rather provides benefits to all of the household and the entire community. The reduction of gender-based inequalities through the improvement of human and physical resources controlled by women, makes it possible to increase the farming productivity of households, increase incomes and improve the food and nutritional security of the entire population" (FAO/WFP, 1996).

The chapter pays particular attention to analysing the conditions under which women carry out their roles as food producers, and outlines the main trends at the regional level. The heterogeneity of the region, combined with the obstacles faced in compiling easily comparable data, makes it difficult to carry out a comprehensive analysis of rural women in Latin America and the Caribbean. This chapter thus begins by defining broadly the most relevant trends that link rural women and food security in Latin America and the Caribbean. The main focus is on women who reside in rural areas and who derive their incomes from agricultural production (including fisheries and forestry), processing and marketing.

Given the difficulties involved in collecting data, the case studies included are those whose methodology makes it possible to extract the most suitable data from the perspective of gender. Particular attention is given to case studies conducted in several countries using similar criteria, in order to allow comparison and generalization, the fundamental requirements for the formulation of regional strategies. The experience of Colombia in drawing up specific policies targeted at rural women is highlighted.

In conclusion, recommendations are presented for countries to define priorities and strategic initiatives in macroeconomics, food production, preparation and consumption, participation and organization, social development, institutional reform, social awareness of gender and research.

1. The context of rural development

In analysing the conditions affecting food security, it is necessary to focus, in the context of rural development in Latin America, first on the impact of the neo-liberal model on small-scale agricultural production and, second, on factors related to rural poverty.

The socio-political situation in Latin America in the past decades has been characterized by the implementation of neo-liberal models of development. These have had an impact on productive conditions in the rural sector on three levels:

· The neo-liberal model has accentuated and promoted private ownership of property as the basis of the production unit, as opposed to other forms of association or ownership encouraged by former models. Such a strategy serves to exacerbate the problem of landownership in Latin America, forcing small-scale farm operators to purchase holdings via the market system.

· Deregulation of the labour market, accompanied by increasing rural impoverishment, has triggered migration from the countryside to the city, and has put greater labour demands on family members. The rural crisis has caused the shift of members of the productive unit, especially the men, into paid employment away from the farm and on to medium-sized and large farms. It has played a role in the increase in the number of female-headed households, especially in the poorest households.

· Market deregulation, enacted under competitive conditions, acts as the motor of the economy. In concrete terms, this means that the small operator must not only compete with medium-sized and large operators, but also with producers from other countries. As a consequence, the trend towards globalization of markets generates challenges, for government agencies and rural civil society alike, that need to be faced in the short and medium terms.

Recent studies have demonstrated that, although the neo-liberal model has succeeded in improving some indicators of development such as GDP, the incidence of poverty has been on the rise, as has its severity. Both men and women have limited access to land and water, social and economic infrastructure, productive and institutional services and regulatory policies. In addition, the rural population is characterized by poor health and malnutrition and lacks sufficient opportunities for productive employment.

According to the Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the proportion of households and people living in poverty and indigence in 1989 was greater in rural areas than in urban ones, for all of the countries studied. Guatemala was the most extreme case, where the incidence of poverty was found to be 75 percent of households and 80 percent of the total population, with the figures for indigence 53 and 57 percent, respectively. In the most favourable case, Argentina, poverty affected 17 percent of households and 20 percent of the total population, with the respective figures for indigence found to be 6 and 7 percent, respectively (Table 1).

The economic policies implemented in the countries of Latin America in the 1990s exposed rural economies to the discipline of the market, resulted in lower public investment in rural areas, gave more freedom to private-sector organizations and paved the way for increased participation by civil society (Campillo, 1995) (Table 1).

2. The overall situation of rural women in Latin America and the Caribbean

Latin America is a vast region with over 60 million rural women (1990). Furthermore, it includes a blend of cultures, ethnic groups, economic development levels and political conditions (FAO, 1995b). Throughout Latin America, women assume economic roles related to survival, as unpaid workers on smallholdings or as temporary or permanent workers in production units geared towards domestic consumption or export. Some women join the informal economy as sellers or craftspeople (FAO, 1995b).

The situation of rural women is tied to the changes in the economic model that have taken place in recent decades. Women suffer from the structural problems hampering the sector, and are marginalized on two counts: they face higher levels of poverty and they are discriminated against legally, socially, economically and culturally.

FAO data show that one of the structural problems encountered in the region over the last six decades has been the decrease in the rural population from 70 percent of the total in 1930 to 30 percent in 1990; in some countries, such as Peru, Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Cuba, this problem has reached extreme levels, with the rural population falling to under 25 percent of the total, while in others (Paraguay, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Guatemala and Haiti), a strong rural tendency persists and the rural population continues to account for over 50 percent of the total population.

The same period has witnessed a progressive drop in the proportion of workers employed in agriculture (from 55 percent in 1950 to 25 percent in 1990), as a consequence of the weakness of the agricultural sector compared with other sectors of the economy and the lack of political will to bolster the sector.

Table 1 Proportion of households and people living in poverty and in indigent communities (percentage)

Country	Urban areas		Rural areas		Country total
	Poverty	Indigence	Poverty	Indigence	Poverty	Indigence
Argentina (1986)
Households	12	3	17	6	13	4
People	15	4	20	7	16	5
Brazil (1987)
Households	34	13	60	34	40	18
People	38	16	66	41	45	23
Colombia (1986)
Households	36	15	42	22	38	17
People	40	17	45	23	42	19
Costa Rica (1988)
Households	21	6	28	10	25	8
People	24	7	30	12	27	9
Chile (1987)
Households	37	13	45	16	38	14
People	43	16	52	20	44	17
Guatemala (1986)
Households	54	28	75	53	68	43
People	60	31	80	57	73	49
Mexico (1984)
Households	23	6	43	19	30	10
People	30	8	51	24	37	13
Panama (1986)
Households	30	13	43	22	34	16
People	36	16	52	28	41	20
Peru (1986)
Households	45	16	64	39	52	25
People	52	18	72	46	60	30
Uruguay (1986)
Households	14	3	23	8	15	3
People	19	4	29	12	20	5
Venezuela (1986)
Households	25	8	34	14	27	9
People	30	9	42	18	32	11
Region Total
Households	30	11	43	22	35	15
People	35	13	49	26	40	18

Source: ECLAC, UNDP. Chile, 1990.

Another structural problem hampering the development of the rural sector is the growing trend towards the smallholding form of landownership and a reduced number of owners; 75 percent of households in the region lack land. Women's limited access to land is primarily caused by legal and/or cultural factors.

The economic crisis and structural adjustment policies that affected the development process during the 1980s had particularly negative consequences on the ability of women to underpin the family budget. Trends included the rise in the number of female heads of household, the increase in the number of hours worked in the day and the drop in women's incomes.

Women heads of household, who on average account for 26 percent of rural families, maintain and lead units of production and family reproduction in rural areas, in spite of the fact that they constitute one of the poorest social subgroups in rural society. They combine a range of domestic, economic and community activities, have a lower level of educational attainment than men in their particular strata and do not benefit from productive services.

In virtually all of the countries, rural women's responsibilities have increased as a result of the migration of men, induced by processes of violence or rural impoverishment, towards stable jobs. As well as managing genetic diversity through seeding and taking part in activities during and after the harvest, rural women have had to assume responsibility for the farm and sometimes the sale of products in the local town.

According to the UNDP Human Development Report 1995, women in almost all countries work a greater number of hours than men. Of the total labour burden, women carry an average of 53 percent in developing countries and 51 percent in the industrialized countries.

Poor women in Latin America work an average of 16.5 hours a day under unstable conditions, have an excess of responsibilities and receive little or no remuneration. Even in regions where men manage the system of production, women perform tasks on the farm, such as clearing the ground, harvesting and collecting water. Women go about these duties, and those of food preparation for the family, without the aid of modern techniques, and introduce their daughters to the activities of planting crops, tending milking cows and poultry breeding.

However, because of their knowledge, skills and inventiveness, rural women in Latin America play a major role in promoting food security and sustainable economic development in the region. Women's participation in unremunerated production, for self-consumption and barter trade, continues to be equally or more important in terms of food security and the family income as the contribution made by women in paid jobs.

If women can improve the conditions of food production, they will be able to feed their children better and dedicate more time to their care. The products of women's work in the vegetable garden are an unquantifiable subsidy or saving that guarantees the survival of the family unit by providing food for self-consumption or sale. The income is used for basic consumer items, such as processed foods, cleaning utensils, medicines for the family and clothes and school materials for the children.

Women's contribution to the family income, both in cash and in kind, is about 50 percent in Latin America. Studies have shown that income generated by women contributes more effectively to improving the quality of life of their household compared with the use that men make of their income, which is spent on more individual pursuits. Moreover, advancement in the cultural, social and economic conditions of rural women has an influence in terms of adequate diet for their children, improved conditions of hygiene and safety, a higher level of educational attainment for their families, and greater participation in the community and in decision-making on development projects.

As shown in Table 2, female-headed households are more vulnerable to conditions of poverty and indigence. In all the countries studied, with the exception of Mexico and Peru, poverty indicators are higher for households headed by women, with indices reaching 77.1 percent in Guatemala and 66.7 percent in Brazil. With respect to indicators of indigence, the same countries show indices of 59.4 and 39.5 percent, respectively.

The neo-liberal model has proved to be largely ineffective in stimulating the production of small-scale operators and in reducing rural poverty. The reasons for this, and for the marginalization of inhabitants of rural areas, can be traced, in part, to lack of access to land and the forms of land tenure. Although agrarian reforms have been undertaken in most of the countries of the region, they have not resulted in significant changes in patterns of landownership. Latin America remains the region with the greatest concentration of landownership (FAO, 1993b).

The largest number of landless farmers, or farmers with small holdings, are found in the areas that lack physical and social infrastructure: "...some are small, independent farmers, others are organized in some form of collective ownership or rely, in some way, on plantations or large farms. They generally have limited access to credit, and their production is primarily organized in such a way as to meet the needs of their family. The land they own is scarce, fragmented and dispersed and a good proportion is under precarious forms of ownership" (FAO, 1995b).

The new paradigms of rural development set forth a democratizing model that pays heed to the importance of civil society through the participation of citizens or non-governmental organizations (NGOs); the links between productive and social areas; awareness of the need for sustainable development; the importance of gender relations; decentralization and local government; and competitiveness in local, national and international markets.

Notwithstanding the slight recovery recorded by the agricultural sector in the 1990s, the policies of the countries will need to aim at strengthening the production of consumer goods and the agricultural and food sectors. This involves making adjustments to the domestic market, providing productivity incentives in agriculture, fishing, aquaculture and agro-industry and bolstering job creation capacity in rural areas. All of these strategies should be considered in order to stimulate the agricultural sector, minimize poverty and achieve food security (Table 3).

Specific programmes have operated under the assumption that a woman is, and should remain, limited to her role of housewife, in the performance of domestic, reproductive and related activities, and that by catering to the head of household in the principal productive activities of the farm, the results achieved will extend to the entire family unit, as a kind of spin-off benefit. However, women's contributions to activities traditionally classified as inactive or domestic are important, since a substantial proportion of the food for the family is generated by the household itself, and this represents income in kind which is generally unquantified and passes unnoticed.

Table 2 Incidence of poverty by income in rural areas, according to gender of head of household in seven Latin American countries

	Poverty (percentage)			Non-indigent poor (percentage)			Indigents (percentage)
	Total	Female-headed households	Male-headed households	Total	Female-headed households	Male-headed households	Total	Female-headed households	Male-headed households
Brazil	58.6	66.7	57.6	24.9	27.2	24.6	33.7	39.5	33.0
Costa Rica	27.4	41.8	25.3	17.0	24.9	15.8	10.4	16.9	9.5
Guatemala	75.4	77.1	75.1	22.6	17.7	23.3	52.8	59.4	51.8
Mexico	42.9	31.6	44.9	23.7	19.9	24.3	19.2	11.7	20.6
Panama	42.8	47.1	41.9	20.5	20.0	20.6	22.3	27.1	21.3
Peru	63.8	54.7	65.6	24.5	22.6	24.9	39.3	32.1	40.7
Venezuela	58.8	44.9	31.8	20.3	21.8	19.9	13.9	23.1	11.9

Source: UNDP (1992) América Latina: El reto de la pobreza, Bogota.

In view of this, it is not sufficient to adjust the existing instruments so that data are collected on variables broken down by sex. A thorough review of the way information systems are designed, together with their operating methodologies, is essential in terms of recognizing the range of roles and responsibilities involved in the systems of production and consumption that sustain rural households. The problem is a conceptual one and concerns the rationale behind the way small family productive units operate as well as women's active, not secondary, roles in the development of rural communities.

Table 3 Rural female labour force: official and revised estimates (percentage)

Country	Official estimate	Revised estimate
Costa Rica	8.0	27.5
El Salvador	12.4	33.0
Guatemala	8.9	26.0
Honduras	5.7	22.0
Nicaragua	12.0	22.5
Panama	5.0	26.5
Ecuador	19.0	46.0
Bolivia	40.0	57.0
Colombia	26.0	51.0
Peru	45.0	70.0
Venezuela	18.0	47.0
Paraguay	11.0	30.0
Uruguay	16.0	25.0

Prepared on the basis of data contained in an Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture and Inter-American Development Bank (IICA-IDB) study, 1994.

The family workforce, in contrast with that of other sectors, performs a key role in rural economic units, since the output of the workforce has a productive significance that does not exist in the business sector, which is based on the hiring of permanent and temporary staff. Domestic duties such as food preparation, cleaning and upkeep of the house, collection of water and fuelwood and watching over the farm combine with the raising and care of children in a process in which women are mainly responsible for teaching children socialization skills. This process is essential not only for the reproduction of the family unit, but also for the social cohesiveness of rural communities. Against this background, the classification of domestic and reproductive activities as inactive, which is a common feature of official information systems, distorts the true picture by ignoring activities that are vital to the smooth functioning of the entire productive system.

It is precisely because of the variety of functions they perform and the flexibility of their working day that women act as the cornerstone of the family through their participation in productive, reproductive and domestic spheres. They reconcile, coordinate and adapt the various spaces and times of family work into their daily routine.

A study on women food producers has highlighted the statistical distortions that "point up the inability of the sector to include in its development strategies and plans, the population which effectively works in the agricultural sector", by demonstrating how official statistics ignore more than a quarter of the farm workforce (IICA-IDB, 1994).

According to ECLAC-FAO (Campillo, 1995), women contribute 40 percent of the agricultural supply for the internal market and, in some cases, considerably more: 77 percent of dried beans, 51 percent of maize and 61 percent of potatoes.

Women are employed as temporary labour in agro-industries and large agricultural units because of their skills in selecting and packing as well as their low salaries. In Chile, 7 percent of the workers in the fruit plantations are women who work less than five months a year in cleaning, selecting and packing fruit. In Mexico, women work six months a year in vegetable harvesting and packing, especially tomatoes. In Costa Rica, women are involved in picking plantains and, in Colombia, women make up 70 percent of the workers in the flower growing industry and 40 percent of those in coffee picking.

Workers in this temporary work very often do not have formal or legal contracts with their employers. As a result, they endure low salaries, irregular working hours, non-compliance with labour laws and the consequent lack of social protection.

This panorama reflects how rural women are not only responsible for the market garden or the plot, activities which in most instances constitute the only means of diversifying the family diet, but are also a major source of income.

In the Andean countries, for example, women food producers generate a considerable share of income, if this is calculated on the basis of the number of hours worked by family members (Table 4).

Table 4 indicates that adult women contribute 36 percent of real income versus the 51 percent contributed by men. These figures do not take into consideration indirect income in the form of food production and products that are not sold or do not have any monetary value, and which are generally for self-consumption in order to guarantee the family's survival. Of particular note is the case of Peru, where adult women and girls contribute 70 percent of total family income.

In addition to making a significant contribution to the tasks of agricultural production (19 percent of total family income is provided by their work in such activity), rural women in the Andean region devote a large part of their time to livestock activities, in the process generating 48 percent of all family income. Moreover, through their non-farm income-generating activities (commerce, handicrafts and paid labour), rural women contribute approximately 31 percent of household income.

In almost all the countries of Latin America, the work of rural women who earn incomes in more stable jobs is undervalued and women receive lower salaries than men. In Peru, for example, the salary of women in sugar cane processing is only 25 percent of that of men (FAO, 1991).

Studies carried out in the region over the past decade show that women's limited access to productive resources, for legal, regulatory and cultural reasons, constitutes one of the most significant obstacles to the equality of opportunity between the sexes in the farming sector, and to the development of Latin America's rural and farming sectors.

In technology transfer programmes in the region, stereotypical notions of the division of labour persist whereby a man's role is in production and a woman's role is in domestic reproduction. Food producers' use of, and access to, technology is distorted by these attitudes.

It has proved very difficult to introduce new food production technologies into rural economic units. As a result, traditional technologies exist alongside new ones; human and animal traction, the use of rudimentary farming implements and a low degree of mechanization are all predominant features, although certified seed transfer and use have improved.

Table 4 Contribution of family members to real income (percentage)

Country	Girls	Boys	Women	Men
Ecuador	11	17	35	37
Bolivia	11	17	35	37
Colombia	4	1	47	48
Peru	11	12	59	18
Venezuela	4	9	43	44
Latin America	6	7	36	51

Source: UNDP (1992) América Latina: El reto de la pobreza, Bogota.

Although complementarity is a characteristic of farm work in these units, the way tools, agricultural inputs and methods are organized depends on agreements between men and women. While it is clear that a gender gap exists in access to the most up-to-date technologies, technology development and transfer programmes ignore this reality and focus their efforts on male producers. For example, extension concerning the use of chemical fertilizers, phytosanitary control and animal health is designed exclusively for men, ignoring the fact that women are also involved in such activities.

Another social phenomenon that is becoming increasingly important in Latin America and the Caribbean is the rise in the number of households headed solely or directly by a woman, as a result of abandonment, single motherhood, temporary or permanent separation of spouses and the violence associated with armed conflicts, among other factors.

The number of households in this category has increased from approximately 7 percent in 1970 to 26 percent in the 1990s. In Central America, households headed by women accounted for between 29 and 48 percent of the total of all cases analysed. In the Andean region, the number of such households ranged between 29.1 and 55 percent (IICAIDB, 1994).

In their estimates of the number of female-headed households, official statistics present a bias which can be traced to the use of data collection instruments. Pollsters consider the oldest man to be the head of the household, without inquiring into other aspects such as who makes the decisions, the extent to which the household is representative of society as a whole or the income contribution towards the unit's livelihood. As a result, female-headed households are underestimated by almost 23 percent, with the greatest discrepancies occurring in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Peru and Venezuela (Table 5).

In Colombia, for example, the decision to consider income as the determining factor in identifying the head of household showed that 6 percent of rural households that were headed by a woman were not actually being counted as such. In these cases the woman had a permanent companion who, for reasons of unemployment, disability or low remuneration, was not supporting the family.

The same thing happens in those households where women take an active part in decision-making and represent the family within the community and the state, as a result of, among other factors, their contributions to the family income, which are greater or equal to those of their husbands or permanent companions.

In addition to being a determining factor in poverty and indigence indicators, the concept of the female-headed household is important in that it highlights women's vulnerability and the fact that they face inequitable access to development services.

3 The situation of rural women by subregion

3.1 central America and the Caribbean
3.2 Andean countries
3.3 The Southern Cone

3.1 central America and the Caribbean

Although the divisions between the rural and the urban are not as clear-cut in the Caribbean as in other subregions, the women of all the region share an ambiguous situation. On the one hand, they form the true nucleus of the family in their reproductive roles and in their significant contributions to productive activities but, on the other hand, they live with institutional customs and laws that deny them equality with men and hinder the development of their capabilities (FAO, 1993b).

Women's participation in the agricultural labour force may be as high as 54 percent, as the participation of women in income generation is very high in female-headed households, which constitute between 50 and 60 percent of all Caribbean households, particularly in rural areas.

Although there is great heterogeneity in the subregion of Meso-America, rural women fulfil basic productive activities, especially in food production for self-consumption and family subsistence.

In recent years, women constitute a growing number of the economically active population (EAP), representing 4 percent of the total of the agricultural EAP in Costa Rica and up to 5 percent in Haiti (FAO, 1993b).

According to the IICA-IDB study on women food producers, between 60 and 84 percent of the women surveyed in six countries participate in various agricultural tasks in the production of basic grains in the family plot, and between 46 and 69 percent also work simultaneously in cultivating vegetable gardens, while between 6 and 17 percent take care of livestock. The greatest participation of women in agricultural activities is found in Costa Rica (84 percent) and Panama (81 percent).

In this subregion, women can be considered as half-time farmers as they work an average of four hours a day in the production of basic grains and in a number of post-harvest tasks, especially in processing and storage. The more than 50 percent of women in the region who work in vegetable gardens or family plots dedicate, on average, one hour a day to this work.

In the subregion, female-headed households constitute between 40 and 50 percent of the total households. In Jamaica, 34 percent of households are headed by women and, in Trinidad and Tobago, these households tend to have lower incomes (FAO, 1993b).

As regards access to land, data show that a very small percentage of women have benefited from agrarian reform and other processes of land distribution in Central America, fluctuating between 4 percent in Honduras and 16 percent in Costa Rica. The fact that only 28 percent of women who request land are granted it, as compared with 61 percent of men, reflects discrimination against women and the seriousness of the situation.

Table 5 Rural households headed by women (percentage)

Country	Official estimate	Revised estimate
Costa Rica	12	34
El Salvador	25	48
Guatemala	nd	43
Honduras	15	29
Nicaragua	18	31
Panama	27	29.1
Ecuador	nd	37.1
Peru	23	43.3
Venezuela	22	55
Brazil	12	nd
Paraguay	9	nd
Uruguay	11	9.3

Prepared on the basis of data contained in the IICA-IDB 1994 study.

There are few agricultural finance programmes in the Caribbean for small farmers, and women encounter restrictions in both supply and demand, in spite of the focus in recent years on the limited credit available to small producers, women, microenterprises and the informal sector. Efforts to remove restrictions on the supply of credit have, however, neglected the obstacles in the way of the demand. In Jamaica, for example, women receive only 5 percent of the loans given by the Bank of Agricultural Credit and, in Surinam, women do not have the right to receive credit directly, but only through their husbands or relatives (FAO, 1993b).

According to the study, women's access to credit ranges from 3 percent in Panama to 48 percent in El Salvador, even though the official statistics show that women's access to formal credit channels is very low, ranging from 14 to 30 percent.

In the subregion, NGOs and private organisms have reached a greater number of women than have those of the state. In spite of the restrictions, the few women who benefit from credit use it efficiently and have a high repayment rate.

Access to technology is one of the most critical factors for the agricultural and livestock sector. Women, however, have received a minimum of technical training because most of the programmes are directed to medium and large units of production and ignore the productive role of women in smallholdings. Yet women are very open to technological change and achieve improvements in production as their experiences lead them to apply innovations more easily.

3.2 Andean countries

In spite of the great diversity of the countries that make up the Andean subregion, women generally play a very significant role in productive activities because of their increasing participation in the EAP in recent years.

According to the FAO study on rural women in Latin America and the Caribbean (FAO, 1993b), female participation in the rural EAP reaches its highest levels in Ecuador (12.8 percent), Peru (24.4 percent) and Bolivia (27.5 percent) while in Colombia and Venezuela it is less than 5 percent.

Studies carried out in Colombia and Peru show that the participation of women in agricultural labour varies from 25 to 45 percent. In poor households in the smallholder areas, women have had to extend their workloads into activities formerly carried out by men who have turned to other jobs for temporary or permanent income.

In spite of the diversity of the subregion, there is a strong link between rural poverty and women's participation in agricultural production; women earn more than 20 percent of the family income and between 10 and 25 percent of households have succeeded in overcoming poverty thanks to the income of women.

According to the study on women food producers in the sub-region, women food producers contribute to the sectoral GDP as follows: Venezuela, 10 percent; Bolivia, 33.6 percent; Peru, 25 percent; and Colombia and Ecuador approximately 20 percent (IICA-IDB, 1994).

Of the total hours contributed by the various family members to different tasks, 13.3 percent is contributed by children under 15 years of age (7.1 percent by boys and 6.2 percent by girls) and 36.3 percent by women 15 years and older. Females thus contribute 42.5 percent of the total labour.

In Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, women's contributions are mainly in the livestock sector (54, 41 and 47 percent respectively), in comparison with agricultural activities (16, 37 and 35 percent). In contrast, women are mainly found in agricultural activities in Venezuela (41 percent) and Colombia (47 percent). Their participation in livestock activities is relatively significant in Colombia (31 percent). However, women contribute less than 10 percent to commercial and craft activities in Venezuela and Colombia.

In the subregion, women's contribution to domestic activities is 98 percent, compared with 2 percent for men. In adding these activities to their productive ones, women's contribution to the total work done is 60 percent, compared with 40 percent for men. This represents a double workday for women of 6.9 hours and is thus a significant contribution to the survival of the family units and to society as a whole.

According to the results of the same study, women in the Andean subregion own 23.7 percent of property, compared with the 47 percent owned by men. In 29.2 percent of cases, property is jointly owned.

Although there is no legal discrimination in access to credit, rural women have few possibilities to obtain loans because they lack the main means of collateral - land. Nevertheless, 29 percent of the women interviewed in the Andean subregion had asked for some kind of credit and this was approved in 91 percent of cases. In comparison, 43.2 percent of men had requested credit and the rate of approval was 85.1 percent.

In the area of credit, Venezuela is an exception. In this country, 74.7 percent of the women interviewed had asked for credit which was approved in 91 percent of the cases, in comparison with 17.7 percent of men with an approval rate of 85.1 percent. Excluding Venezuela, an average of 15 percent of women in the subregion ask for credit.

Training for women is mainly directed to crafts and the use of seeds and fertilizers. In Bolivia, 53 percent of the participants in courses on crafts, commercialization and marketing of products are women and 37 percent are men. In Colombia, participation in training activities on crafts, the use of improved seeds and the use of fertilizers is as follows: 17 percent women, 65 percent men, and 18 percent couples. The training situation in Ecuador is similar with 31 percent women, 60 percent men and 9 percent couples. In Peru, training is directed mainly to crafts, in which men constitute 67 percent of the participants, women 5 percent and couples 28 percent.

Venezuela presents a considerably different situation, given the technological levels used in production. In training activities on the use of pesticides, fertilizers and improved seeds, women constitute 55 percent of the courses' participants, men 42 percent and couples 3 percent.

3.3 The Southern Cone

In the subregion of the Southern Cone, as in the other subregions, there is great diversity among the countries, with different trends regarding the situation of women.

In Paraguay, agriculture still plays an important role in the economy, in contrast to Uruguay which has the highest rate of urbanization and a constantly decreasing rural population. For its part, Brazil has a great internal diversity and a rural population with the lowest poverty index in the subregion. The contribution of the rural sector to GDP in Brazil and Uruguay is approximately 10 percent.

In Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, a number of activities are practically under the control of women, including post-harvest processing and the care and management of livestock (IICA-IDB, 1994).

Small-scale production in each of these three countries has its own characteristics, with some common ones such as the significant concentration of population and a large number of farms. The food produced is mainly for domestic consumption, in spite of the inadequate quality and quantity of support services.

The contribution of women to the income of these agricultural units is significant. In Paraguay, women contribute 42 percent of the income generated on the plots while, in Uruguay, women contribute about one-third of the family income.

In the southern part of Brazil, women contribute some 25 percent of the total number of work days in agricultural production, between 49 and 70 percent of the days in livestock activities and between 42 and 45 percent of those in primary processing.

Although there are no legal obstacles to women's access to land, women hold few land titles (between 2 and 18 percent of the total property surveyed). However, 46 percent of the land in Santa Catarina, Brazil, is jointly owned, as is 42 percent of the Uruguayan farms (IICA-IDB).

Training in Uruguay is directed to technical and productive matters, such as diseases, pests, crops, the use of fertilizers, the selection and production of seeds, the use of improved seeds, the management of herbicides, soil management and conservation, harvesting and the conservation and management of post-harvest goods. In these types of courses, 2 percent of the women participate in comparison with 12 to 18 percent of the men. In contrast, these percentages are reversed in courses on horticulture, food, nutrition and food production, with between 8 and 20 percent of women participating compared with 2 percent of men.

In Paraguay, the survey showed that 54 percent of those interviewed belonged to some kind of organization. Only 9 percent of these were producers' organizations, 6 percent were extension and technical assistance organizations promoted by the state and 40 percent were community organizations.

4. The social situation of women

4.1 Education
4.2 Health
4.3 Organization and participation

4.1 Education

Rural education in Latin America shows deficiencies in coverage, quality and student retention. Generally speaking, curricula do not meet the ethnic and cultural needs of the regions and teacher training is deficient. Unfortunately, no data are available on rural women's participation in formal education programmes, although the national statistics of some countries show an increase in coverage of women.

Although access to education has increased in recent years, there is a significant gap between the access of the urban and the rural population, and females have less access than males. In most of the countries of the region, the urban population has higher levels of education than the rural population. According to FAO data for a number of countries in the region, illiteracy in rural areas is double or more than that in urban areas (Table 6). Female illiteracy in all the countries is greater in the rural areas, with a difference of almost 5 percentage points in Uruguay to 31 points in Guatemala (FAO, 1995b).

Within the rural sector, female illiteracy is greater than that of males, with the exception of Brazil and Costa Rica where the illiteracy levels are similar. Peru has the largest difference of 35.2 percentage points while Chile has the smallest difference of 1.2 points.

While the access of girls to primary education has increased and in many countries female educational levels are equal to or greater than those of males, this has not resulted in better access of rural women to the elements of development. The contents of the obligatory curricula have not been modified and these transmit principles of inequality and an underestimation of the role of women in society.

Most of the primary school text books transmit images of women in domestic and reproductive roles, ignoring or underestimating their participation in productive and community roles, contributing to an increase in the undervaluing and discrimination of women as fundamental subjects of development.

In Chile, Costa Rica and Guatemala, studies conducted on teaching materials used in primary education showed that these reproduce the traditional roles of men as producers and women in the domestic sphere.

In informal education, the training given rural women often reinforces their domestic role, without providing skills in production technology or other areas of their personal, economic and political roles. In addition, learning processes are ill-suited, as are the duration, times of training and the teaching methods employed.

Lastly, it should also be noted that education has become the key factor in access to work, decision-making and social recognition of rural women (Table 6).

4.2 Health

Rural women suffer from nutritional deficiencies and their health is adversely affected by maternity, heavy work, cultural beliefs, feeding practices and the lack or inadequate delivery of health services in the rural sector. They tend to consume an inadequate amount of nutrients, owing to the belief that men should receive more food. According to FAO, rural girls are four times as likely to suffer from malnutrition as rural boys are. In the case of adult women, the consumption of nutrients in the diet increases when they earn income (FAO, 1991c).

Fertility has dropped dramatically from an average of six children in 1950 to 3.4 in the 1985 to 1990 period. This represents a significant drop in the average number of children per rural family, and is attributable to a series of socio-economic and cultural factors that have brought rural communities into line with modern developments in this area (FAO, 1995c).

"Among the main causes of child mortality in Latin American and the Caribbean are diarrhoea, respiratory infections and nutritional deficiencies. These causes reflect the harsh economic conditions of the families, the lack of good nutrition of the mothers, the lack of access to adequate heath services and the lack of quality education. Maternal mortality in countries such as Bolivia, Haiti and Ecuador has decreased since 1980. Toxaemia is the main cause of death in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and Venezuela; abortion in Argentina, Cuba, Chile, Honduras and Uruguay; and childbirth complications in Peru" (UNICEF, 1991b).

Table 6 Latin America: illiteracy rates by gender in rural and urban areas (percentage)

Country	Year		Rural area		Urban area
		Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
Brazil	1988	37.5	34.7	36.1	11.5	13.6	12.6
Costa Rica	1984	10.9	11.0	11.0	2.7	3.8	3.3
Chile	1989	16.3	17.5	16.8	3.6	4.4	4.1
Ecuador	1990	15.5	25.1	19.2	3.6	6.5	5.1
Guatemala	1989	45.6	60.0	52.3	16.5	27.0	21.0
Peru	1991	10.4	45.6	28.1	2.2	6.3	4.2
Dominican Republic	1991	29.7	31.4	30.6	8.7	10.8	9.8
Uruguay	1985	6.2	20.4	8.7	3.8	4.1	4.0

Source: FLACSO, 1993; FAO, 1995b.

Access to health services is hindered by obstacles to both supply and demand. In regard to supply, there are extensive areas that lack medical centres and appropriate equipment. Demand is negatively affected by cultural conditions and the availability of the resources and time to gain access to medical attention.

Rural women play a significant role in programmes on birth attendance, vaccination and rehydration of infants and primary health care in the family.

4.3 Organization and participation

Studies on the participation of rural women beyond the domestic sphere show that the participation of rural women in the membership of organizations has increased slightly. Difficulties exist, however, at the level of leadership, particularly in mixed or complex organizations such as cooperatives and producers' associations (FAO, 1995b).

This situation can be partially explained by the attitude of women themselves who tend to undervalue their domestic roles, have low self-esteem and have double workdays which limit their free time. These attitudes contribute to the situation in which society affords women little space to participate in decision-making.

Over the past decade, Latin America has seen the emergence of organizations of rural women at the local, regional and national levels. At the same time, women's sections have been formed within existing rural organizations, in an effort to meet the needs and requirements of women.

Such organizations represent an important link between the family and the public sphere. In these organizations, women learn about participation, reinforce their identity and develop their leadership skills, as is shown by the ground-breaking studies conducted in the region (FAO, 1990c).

Despite their influence on institutional change and rural power relationships, which has been very positive in terms of strengthening grassroots democracy, women's organizations face problems to do with their place in the overall scheme of things, the legitimacy of their membership base and community representation. However, in some instances, they have acquired decision-making power in government agencies at the national, regional and local levels; a case in point is the Association of Rural and Indigenous Women of Colombia (ANMUCIC).

In the Caribbean, the active participation of women in local, economic and political organizations has increased, especially in the NGO sector (FAO, 1993b).

Religious and civic NGOs working in the fields of education, health and home economics include rural women among their target groups and have extended their coverage considerably.

Participation of women in producers' organizations has been, in many cases, a response to government agrarian policies (FAO, 1992).

Although the participation of women in organizations in Cuba and Nicaragua is high, women have not succeeded in achieving 50 percent of the membership in the mixed organizations, nor are they found among the representatives of the leadership bodies of such organizations (FAO, 1992). This situation exemplifies the tendency of women to increase their participation in the membership of organizations without attaining decision-making positions.

In other countries, such as Peru and Bolivia, women are not allowed to participate in rural organizations or unions.

5. Experiences in formulating policy targeting rural women

In the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, the public institutions charged with dealing with rural women are very diverse and are not always at a decision-making level that allows for the formulation of policies and plans that will have a positive impact on changing the conditions and situations of rural women.

In the Caribbean, the women's bureaux are considered as coordinating points of organizations and of the government. In other cases, they are bodies that do not differentiate between urban and rural women. Such organizations generally depend on the Presidential Secretariats (Dominican Republic); ministries of education and culture (Uruguay and Costa Rica); ministries of health and social welfare (Argentina, Ecuador and Panama); or the ministry of planning, as in Chile (FAO, 1995b).

In general, all the countries are weak in the formulation of specific policies to resolve the problems of rural women, although there is a receptive climate to overcome these deficiencies (FAO, 1995b).

Colombia's Policy for the Development of Rural Women is the first of its kind, while Paraguay is preparing a national plan of action.

In Colombia, the National Council on Economic and Social Policy (CONPES) approved the Development of Rural Women policy in January 1994 in the general context of agricultural and social policies.

In line with a new concept of development incorporating the social dimension as an essential component of the human development of the rural population, the policy provides advice to national, regional and local governments on changing the planning process so as to tailor institutional proposals to the needs of women. It also strengthens the participation of organizations in consultative forums within the framework of decentralization.

The policy aims over the long term to achieve a rural society with gender equity. It states clearly that initiatives that target women should not be secondary, but rather should be integrated into the permanent mission of sectoral entities, beginning with the body responsible for policy coordination, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. The policy formulates hands-on strategies, instruments and initiatives which form part of a specific plan of action.

Its implementation is based on institutional and district plans of action for identifying the needs of women, providing a range of basic diagnostic data for use in decision-making.

The plan contains an important component of awareness raising and training for officials and women aimed at producing changes in the understanding of gender relationships, in order to make institutional processes sustainable at the central, district and local levels. The new approach to women's issues should also contribute to sustainability as it envisages the building of relationships between the state, NGOs and rural women.

In the course of the development of the policy, there have been a number of significant achievements: the issue has been addressed at the highest decision-making levels of government; the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and associated bodies have been revamped; plans of action have been initiated by government bodies; and support has grown for the strengthening of women's organizations.

6. International cooperation initiatives

International technical cooperation agencies have undertaken major efforts to study and improve the working conditions of rural women, and have thus been instrumental in raising rural women's levels of competitiveness and their contribution to food security. They have promoted plans, programmes and projects across the continent in support of governments and rural women in attaining their goals of well-being.

Significant support for countries has been provided in the following areas:

· Improving statistics on the role of women in development; work in this area is insufficient but has begun (, 1995).

· Identifying obstacles that curb rural women's participation and development.

· Identifying technologies conducive to the greater effectiveness of participation by women.

· Supporting strategies that focus on planning and formulating policies that promote equity, in contrast to previous approaches centred on welfare.

· Including women in development projects. This has been supported by bodies such as FAO, the World Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the European Economic Community, which today require this element in project evaluation.

· Assessing the contribution of women as food producers and sellers by country and region.

· Conducting projects related to food distribution, income generation and improvement of basic services in a number of countries (FAO, WFP and UNICEF).

· Strengthening organizations with regard to plans for care of children, women and the family, in several countries (UNICEF).

FAO has provided support to countries such as Brazil, Peru, Guatemala and Colombia in the formulation of national plans targeting rural women. These interventions include: a technical cooperation project on women in agriculture in the Caribbean in 1986; a training project for women in productive activities, carried out in Honduras since 1981; and a watershed project with a gender perspective in Bolivia.

In 1991, FAO formulated a Plan of Action, with the aim of providing support for specific projects targeting women and including them in general projects. It outlines tasks in the legal, social, economic and decision-making spheres, defining clear guidelines for countries to formulate their national policies and plans. It also sets out the following basic strategies:

· training of FAO personnel;
· policy advice to governments;
· reorientation of home economics curricula;
· project formulation and follow-up;
· preparation of manuals and guidelines;
· education on women in development and population issues;
· collection of data, studies and research projects.

As part of the follow-up in Latin America and the Caribbean, three regional workshops were held, with two strategic objectives: to take stock of government activities in each country; and to adapt technical cooperation to needs and priorities.

Some concrete recommendations came out of these workshops concerning technical cooperation and research policies, particularly the proposal to establish the Technical Cooperation Network of Institutions and Agencies in Support of Rural Women. The aim of this network would be to incorporate the gender perspective into government action on rural development in all countries, so that research and experiences could be exchanged and help strengthen public policy-making. The network would be based on the participation of representatives from different levels drawn from government, non-governmental, farming and/or rural women's organizations. The network has defined priorities for Latin America and represents a forum for coordination and support for countries, by improving the technical skills of officials and linking women's organizations as the principal beneficiaries and actors of national processes.

In 1995, FAO reformulated its Plan of Action to respond to the changes in the social-political dynamics at the international level and the recommendations of the recent United Nations Conferences on Environment and Development, Human Rights, Population and Social Development, and, especially, to apply the recommendations that arose from the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in September 1995.

At this Conference, FAO presented a document specific to the region: "Looking towards Beijing 1995, rural women in Latin America and the Caribbean".

The objectives of the Plan were formulated as follows:

· to promote gender-based equity in access to and control of productive resources;
· to improve women's participation in decision-making processes at all levels;
· to promote measures to reduce the burden of rural women's work and improve their opportunities to obtain remunerated employment and income.

The Plan defined guidelines for designing activities involving all the programmes and activities of FAO. The Plan also defined four spheres in which it adopted vanguard positions:

· to increase the availability, precision and use of information and quantitative and qualitative data;

· to develop and use training methodologies, instruments and activities in order to help experts and states to incorporate a gender perspective;

· to strengthen the technical knowledge and capacities of rural women to alleviate their workday and improve their income;

· to support the formulation and application of agricultural and rural development policies with a gender perspective.

The Plan proposed better international coordination with the other organisms of the United Nations system and with the member and donor countries. The consultative nature of the Plan's elaboration and the focuses of its formulation and follow-up should allow advances and greater impact in the coming five years.

7. Recommendations

7.1 Policies with a gender perspective approach
7.2 Macroeconomic priorities
7.3 Food production
7.4 Food preparation and consumption in households
7.5 Participation and organization of rural women
7.6 Women's social development
7.7 Institutional reform
7.8 Social awareness of gender

FAO's Plan of Action for Women in Agricultural Development recognizes that women represent an important force for rural change, and are an underutilized resource who could give a great boost to rural economies and increase rates of growth and food production (FAO, 1991d).

Experiences have shown that creative and viable measures and strategies that meet the needs of rural women will result in improved living standards for them and their families, while respecting the great racial and cultural diversity found in the region. For this reason all the countries of the region have plans and programmes targeting rural women. However, the vast majority of these initiatives have not received sufficient political and financial backing, and have reinforced the traditional gender roles in the distribution of labour, productive resources and the benefits these generate (IICA-IDB, 1994).

In food security, the major role played by rural women in the domestic and productive spheres must be recognized. A gender perspective should be included in the formulation of macroeconomic, sectoral and specific public policies, in keeping with the profile of rural women in each particular country.

For this, permanent information systems on the situation of rural women should be created at the local, district and national levels, and be made available to researchers and planners. In addition, regional studies should be carried out on the causes and impacts of the different development models on rural women,

7.1 Policies with a gender perspective approach

Within the framework of the neo-liberal model that prevails in Latin America, a holistic approach to rural development reflects a great effort to redefine the mission of institutions, emphasize processes of consensus building and co-financing with civil society, incorporate the private sector, include environmental development and identify the target population in terms of racial and regional diversity and gender.

Specific strategies targeting rural women should fit in with national policies and with the processes of decentralization and community participation, and give due recognition to the fact that men and women perform different roles in society and as such have different needs and demands.

This perspective known as "gender and development" highlights the major role women play in the productive and political spheres. Recognition of this reality implies reform of the institutions responsible for rural development. This involves not only making adjustments to their systems of information, planning, operation, monitoring and evaluation, but also taking steps to provide training and to familiarize their officials with the new perspective, so that institutional and territorial services meet the population's real demands.

Policy-making should be based on: 1) the productive capacity of the rural female population, which needs to be galvanized; 2) the need to ensure that this increased participation by rural women in production translates into a genuine improvement in living standards through elimination of the discrimination women have previously faced; 3) the enhanced effectiveness that government policies can have in achieving growth with social equity, insofar as rural women's contribution is recognized and they are integrated into a process that enhances productivity and quality of life.

The specific characteristics of the female population mean that, in the course of the development process, women face additional obstacles to those faced by men. Since these obstacles are structural, they need to be dealt with explicitly and directly, with tailored, on-going measures capable of dealing with cultural impediments.

There is a need to analyse the factors that determine the gender division of labour and its implications for the different roles and responsibilities assumed in the household, the labour market and the community; give priority to poor women and recommend special attention to female heads of household in both the supply and demand of programmes; and achieve increases in women's productivity. Women's productivity should be estimated by taking into account, not only the product or service generated by the private household, but also the domestic work inputs, required by all members of the family, that are contributed by women (food, health, education, etc.), in such a way that productivity increase does not involve an intensified workload, but rather a freeing up of time, in order to foster women's personal development and their social and political participation, in the local, district and national contexts.

7.2 Macroeconomic priorities

The inclusion of a gender perspective in the countries' macroeconomic policies has been reaffirmed in all the documents, studies and proposals published over the past five years. It is based on the need to remove the structural obstacles that limit the development of rural women and adversely affect their families, their communities and rural societies in general.

Latin America needs to make the alleviation of rural poverty a priority, in view of the fact that recent studies have highlighted the feminization of poverty, through analysis of poverty's impact on women in the lower strata of rural society.

In order to mitigate this structural obstacle to the well-being and food security of women and their families, it is vital to implement comprehensive, long-term policies that involve women and young people, or at least generate the conditions for this. In other words, in addition to specific subsidies that meet women's immediate requirements, there is a need for economic and social programmes that stimulate the population to search for better living conditions.

Another strategy in the countries of Latin America relates to development plans at the national, regional and local levels, which need to take a gender approach in order to guarantee sustainable initiatives targeting women within planning systems.

The promotion of decentralized planning mechanisms with community involvement strengthens social equity and local governability in rural areas and, at the same time, facilitates the identification of demands by age and gender groups, so as to cater to these demands in a way appropriate to the groups' various day-to-day living conditions and interests.

Macroeconomic policies concerning employment, social security and family care must take into consideration rural women and define policy positions and procedures in keeping with their situation.

Measures to increase the real income of women, with a view to improving their access to food, must stem from a recovery in employment levels, job creation and an increase in the minimum wage.

In the specific case of resources for agricultural production, it is vital to advance the land redistribution process, which stands to benefit small farm operators in general and rural women in particular.

It is necessary to take a gradual, selective approach to the importation of mass market farm products, since this dampens the production of the small operator and has a negative impact on food security.

Countries need to develop their abilities to design, manage and evaluate measures for redistributing food among vulnerable populations -children under seven years old and nursing and pregnant women - who are caught up in poverty or migration caused by armed conflicts, or who live in regions in which the markets for their agricultural goods have been affected by economic liberalization.

7.3 Food production

The difficulties rural women face in gaining access to services in the agricultural, aquacultural and forestry sectors are caused, in part, by the fact that women do not consider themselves as playing a productive role and, in part, by the state's failure to consider them as agents of development.

Consequently, one of the most effective measures for promoting food security is the reordering of policies to meet women's needs and priorities, bearing in mind that strategies for including women in land redistribution and assistance, technology transfer, credit, marketing and irrigation programmes will have a favourable impact on the conditions of production. Such strategies should not be exclusive, but should rather be integral development programmes giving attention to women.

In addition, sectoral policies should recognize women's domestic and community roles, in order to make services compatible with gender differences.

Technology development and transfer

Technology development and transfer should also be tailored to local features and take into consideration culture and women's attitudes, in order that new services meet women's specific needs.

1 Encouraging women's involvement in the production of agricultural goods for family consumption, the domestic market and export. With respect to the latter, progress needs to be made in non-traditional areas, such as fruit and vegetable production and the tapping of renewable forestry and fishing resources. As regards women working in large production units, attention needs to be paid to working conditions such as wages, working days, social security and family welfare.

2 Promoting, wherever possible, systems that are economically and environmentally sound and less labour-intensive. In this process, it is necessary to make the most of the relative aptitude of Latin American women to adopt new technologies, within specific cultural contexts.

3 Exploring new lines of production in which women participate, identifying their comparative advantages and the real size of national and international markets, taking care to avoid "women's projects" which offer little or no rate of return. The following projects are recommended:

i fishing projects, which can make use of soils unsuitable for agricultural production, and that have a high protein value and are highly profitable;

ii agro-industries which absorb a lot of female labour in food processing. Irrespective of size, productive units require appropriate technologies in the areas of sanitation, nutritional conservation and control of degradation agents.

4 Encouraging women to develop skills in soil management, rotation and improvement, and in the use of organic fertilizers.

5 Carrying out research in the following areas:

i analysis of the distribution and complementarity of productive, domestic and community roles by sex and age, according to defined socio-economic and agro-ecological situations;

ii products and processes with better involvement of women, offering viable alternatives to the limitations they face, such as time mobility and specific skills (Medrano, 1966);

iii productive models that combine a high utilization of family labour, minimal use of agrochemicals and a high degree of vegetal and animal linking and complementarity (FAO, 1995b).

Access to land

Many women do not own their own land or do not have access to sufficient amounts for their productive activities, with the result that they are excluded from national plans.

In addition to the elimination of socio-cultural and legal discrimination, which still persists in some countries in Latin America, consideration should be given to:

1 Formulating policies that give female heads of household preference in access to land.
2 Ensuring that criteria for selecting beneficiaries of land purchase programmes take women into consideration.

Irrigation

The recognition of women's role in food production should translate into their participation as users of irrigation systems in two capacities:

1 Placing women as both beneficiaries and managers of services.
2 Designing projects that make multiple use of water, including consumption and land improvement.

Marketing

Given that women in Latin America are extensively involved in selling fruits, vegetables, fish and shellfish, sweets and dairy products, attention should be given to:

1 Promoting associations that enable women to improve their incomes through the negotiation of special terms with buyers; supply of information on prices and markets; and better road infrastructure and transport.

2 Providing training to women in techniques for reducing post-harvest losses and improving the processing, storage and marketing of their products.

3 Drawing up inventories on technologies in production and domestic food processing, taking into account local conditions and innovations introduced by women.

4 Promoting women's participation in community organizations that aim to control prices and product quality. Such a strategy should be complemented by the requirement on the part of local governments to provide jobs for rural women in collection and sales centres, with the basic conditions of well-being for them and their younger children.

Continued growth in food production depends on the incorporation of technology, with reductions in costs and losses, overcoming storage and transport problems.

Agricultural credit

Countries need to take appropriate action to ensure that the supply of credit responds to the needs of rural women by:

1 Lowering collateral requirements.

2 Promoting linkages between the assistance sector and the supply of credit for women.

3 Attuning loan application procedures to women's circumstances and training officials to support this.

4 Providing information about credit which may benefit women food producers. negotiation and financial management.
5 Developing women's skills in project design,

Management of non-renewable natural resources

Improved management of non-renewable resources is essential to achieving food security. To this end, the following measures should be considered:

1 Promoting reforestation programmes aimed at the preservation of microwatersheds, the halting of erosion and conservation or restoration of ecosystems.

2 Supporting women's participation in soil conservation programmes, in aspects such as planting, seed nurseries, biological control, organic fertilization, seed preservation and cultivation of medicinal plants.

3 Promoting fuelwood nursery gardens that assist tree conservation and serve as a source of energy.

4 Supporting integrated systems of agricultural and livestock production, in order that the surpluses and waste materials generated by one can be put to good use in the other.

Promotion of productive employment

Inasmuch as women make a significant contribution to household food security through their incomes, the productive employment of women needs to be promoted by:

1 Including women in the strategies of each country's rural employment programmes, in order to deal with the special features and circumstances of the female labour force, especially in areas affected by economic deregulation.

2 Promoting comprehensive strategies in areas characterized by small farms to guide women towards income-generating jobs off the farm, which complement the vegetable garden in food security.

3 Ensuring equitable and just working conditions for women who are employed in agro-industrial productive units and other economic units.

4 Setting up a national, subregional or regional support fund for community projects or microenterprises employing women in food production, processing and marketing.

7.4 Food preparation and consumption in households

Given that women are the main providers of food in rural households, the following measures should be supported:

1 Upgrading the site where food is prepared, by making suitable domestic technologies available.

2 Promoting household potable water collection and distribution systems.

3 Facilitating access to cooking instruments.

4 Promoting support programmes for the conservation of food for self-consumption, taking into account the different climates, relative humidity and profile of dwellings.

5 Encouraging redistribution of roles to ensure equitable division of the workload and responsibilities with other members of the family.

6 Promoting balanced distribution of food between family members of different sexes.

7 Helping form more balanced eating habits through education on nutrition for girls and young adults.

8 Supporting women's organizations responsible for child development and health care.

9 Giving due recognition to women's work in preparing food for the family, and including this in national surveys and accounts, on the grounds that women in Latin America contribute approximately 50 percent of family income in cash and kind on farms owned by couples.

10 Quantifying the participation of women in the agrofood chain as their contribution to the GDP of the countries is significant if their productive, processing, marketing and domestic activities related to the food cycle are taken into account.

7.5 Participation and organization of rural women

Policy in this area should seek to make women legitimate representatives before the government and civil society and promote coordination between women's groups, NGOs and the state bodies involved in the public regulation of food production and consumption activities in the rural sector.

Only the strengthening of grassroots organizations and the capacity of their members to identify their priorities and demands will ensure flexible, consistent and directed management of the rural sector.

Moreover, women need to seek autonomy and power in order to bolster their participation in food production. This has implications for their families, organizations and the community as a whole, since it changes social relations and the power structure.

Training and monitoring strategies will be instrumental in:

1 Increasing women's long-term, sustainable access to, and control of, economic resources, goods, opportunities and benefits.

2 Strengthening the role of women in governance and decision-making at every level.

3 Promoting female leadership and management capacity in productive units.

4 Taking steps to strengthen rural women's organizations and promote a gender perspective in mixed organizations.

5 Ensuring that the strategies of organizations are in tune with the changes in the overall environment regarding modernity and modernization.

6 Training women in project design methods using a gender perspective, new production and marketing technologies, community participation and food conservation and processing technologies.

7.6 Women's social development

Attention needs to be given to women's social development through policies that will have a direct impact on the conditions of rural women, particularly in the areas of education and health.

Education

In the field of education, policies should give attention to:

1 Addressing the needs of the female population in national literacy programmes, using messages relevant to their roles and culture.

2 Promoting informal training schemes, directed at low-income adult women in technical areas and socio-entrepreneurial management of farm and non-farm projects

3 Encouraging, through the messages conveyed in primary education, a socio-cultural change in the conception and application of roles along gender lines, highlighting domestic roles and the nonexclusive responsibility of women in this.

4 Incorporating messages with a gender and development perspective in the training of professionals involved in social work, education, health and agricultural and environmental sciences.

5 Increasing the coverage and improving the quality of child care centres in order to facilitate women's work and aid the child's overall development. Such programmes should be developed in consultation with women at the regional level so as to be in keeping with regional child rearing patterns.

6 Introducing flexibility in curricula and teaching methods in rural primary education, in an effort to raise retention levels and the quality of training.

7 Introducing into all training programmes targeting rural women, messages and methods for personal development and community participation.

8 Considering the needs and viewpoints of women in educational planning.

Health and basic sanitation

In the field of health and basic sanitation, attention should be given to:

1 Placing special emphasis, within health programmes geared to the rural sector, on those designed to overcome conditions and risk factors that affect women of different ages, so as to reduce female, especially maternal, mortality and morbidity rates.

2 Designing flexible, effective strategies for reducing the malnourishment of mothers and children, especially in poor areas.

3 Strengthening primary care through prevention campaigns, training of rural sector leaders and the equipping of villages with the elements necessary for birth attendance and basic family health needs.

4 Promoting sex education and access to family planning services, in order to reduce birth rates in the rural sector.

5 Facilitating access to potable water and basic sanitation programmes, by providing incentives for co-financing projects with municipalities and local governments.

7.7 Institutional reform

Policies for institutional reform should be designed to reduce or eliminate barriers that, particularly in the public sector, hinder the successful achievement of priorities and development plans and targets regarding rural women and food security.

Identification of demand

The design of such policies requires knowledge of women's needs and demands. The can be achieved through:

1 Establishing profiles of rural women who use essential services for their productive labours, such as land, credit, technical assistance, training and irrigation.

2 Upgrading the information systems of both public and private rural agencies. Ministries of agriculture also need to gauge the potential demand by rural women, through assessments and censuses that differentiate the needs of women by race, agro-ecological region and type of crops.

3 Carrying out studies that categorize rural women by subsector and subregion and providing relevant information about their situation, conditions of poverty and violence and organizational abilities. This will make it possible to formulate policies differentiated by area and region in the countries and subregions of Latin America.

Reform of institutional services

This should include as central elements in each rural agency:

1 Identifying the obstacles and limitations women face in gaining access to institutional services.

2 Gearing services according to a gender perspective and the conditions of rural women.

3 Training for public officials and review of agency planning systems that are committed to public-sector reform processes, the democratization of services and the decentralization of planning.

Reform of local governments and municipalities

At the local level, attention should be given to:

1 Supporting district and municipal governments, by providing planning tools with a gender perspective, which enable them to formulate development plans and agricultural programmes with the participation of women, taking into account their needs.

2 Linking the services supplied with the demands of women, in accordance with the new responsibilities set by district and municipal governments. The methodology used should allow for consultation with officials and women at the grassroots level, while respecting new administrative responsibilities and the resulting autonomy. The process of decentralization means that districts and municipalities must have planning and coordination tools at their disposal, in order to ensure that services reach rural women.

Follow-up and monitoring of women's participation

1 Facilitating the supervision and monitoring of institutional or district plans of action and follow-up by countries of increases in the coverage of services directed to women. This should be tailored to different services and regions.

Institutional mechanisms for coordination and management of policies and programmes

All of the countries have gradually been establishing institutions to coordinate the implementation of their programmes. Some of these institutions fit in at some level of the agricultural sector while others fit into the national planning sphere or social welfare ministries. However, officials with the power to make decisions in government bodies are noted for lacking an integrated view of the concept of management and for their lack of awareness of the importance of women's participation in food security. This limitation arises frequently and, together with fluctuation in political will, has a bearing on resource allocation and the institutional legitimacy of processes. For these reasons, attention should be given to:

1 Promoting coordination points at the highest decision-making levels of government, with mechanisms to avoid overlapping of Initiatives and duplication of responsibilities among government bodies, private entities and cooperation agencies. These coordination points should also provide technical support for these processes.

7.8 Social awareness of gender

It is essential to raise the awareness of communities about the equitable participation of women in order to rebuild peace, preserve natural resources and spur rural communities to take action on food security.

The creation of a new awareness of gender in society requires governments, private entities and women's organizations to change public opinion and develop specific programmes that enable countries to move forward.

The following initiatives are critical for public recognition of women:

1 Promoting processes for the civil reconciliation of family and community conflicts.

2 Formulating programmes to train women in constitutional rights of an individual and social nature, as well as in legal and institutional mechanisms that protect them.

3 Setting up of supervisory arrangements to ensure that policies, plans and programmes targeting rural women are designed in consultation with rural and/or women's organizations.

4 Encouraging electoral participation through voter registration drives and strategies.

5 Creating local or subregional networks to guard against family violence and provide treatment to its victims.

6 Giving priority to displaced rural women in plans and programmes at the national, departmental and local levels.

7 Including the gender variable in records of data on violence, kept by public agencies, in order to be able to gauge the effects on women and take appropriate decisions.

8 Using mass media promotional strategies, in order to change cultural norms and promote the participation of women in productive and social services, to stimulate demand and provide for the dissemination of successful experiences.

9 Conducting regional studies on the causes and impacts of the different forms of violence rural women face.

In conclusion, rural women in Latin America and the Caribbean should be considered as actors in development, with recognition of their rights and support for their productive, domestic and community roles. This requires both support at the state level and efforts to raise public awareness. Together, the state, NGOs and women's organizations will be able to give effective and opportune responses to the needs of rural women, oriented toward decision-making and promoting technological and methodological advances with a gender perspective in food security.

References

Bermudez, F. et al. (1991) Estudio de caso sobre la participación prevista de la mujer rural en el proyecto. Quito.

Bolivia (1994) Informe sobre el avance de las mujeres en Bolivia. EDOBOL. La Paz.

Bustos, B. and G. Palacio (1994) El trabajo femenino en América Latina. Los debates en la década de tos noventa. Guadalajara: Universidad de Guadalajara.

Campillo, F. (1995) Genero y Desarrollo Rural una Relación Desigual. In Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, El Desarrollo Rural en América Latina hacia el siglo XXI, Tomo I. Bogotá: Editorial Presencia.

Chaparro, F. (1994) Las tres dimensiones: inversión, tecnología y sostenibilidad. In: El sector agropecuario en Colombia y el mundo: Presente y uturo. Bogota: Ministry of Agriculture.

Chiriboga, M., R, Grynspan and L. Perez (1995) Mujeres del maíz. Programa de análisis de la política del sector agropecuario f rente a la mujer productora de alimentos en Centroamérica y Panamá. San Jose, Costa Rica: IICA.

CICDA (1994) Género en el desarrollo rural. Un proceso en construcción. Ruralter, 11-12. La Paz.

Colombia, Ministry of Agriculture (1993) Plan de Ejecución de la política de mujer rural. Bogota: Republic of Colombia.

Colombia, Ministry of Agriculture, Secretaria Técnica de Mujer Rural (1994). Guía de servicios agropecuarios, piscícolas y forestales. Bogota: Letra Nueva.

Colombia National Planning Department, Office of the President, Ministry of Agriculture (1994) Política para el desarrollo de la mujer rural. Bogota: Republic of Colombia.

Durán Ariza, M. (1991) Avances de la política sobre el papel de la mujer campesina en el desarrollo agropecuario. Bogota: Republic of Colombia, Office of the President.

FAO (1989) La mujer en el desarrollo agrícola: el impacto de la tecnología agrícola en las actividades productivas de las mujeres en América Latina y el Caribe. Santiago: FAO

FAO (1990a) Búsqueda de mecanismos jurídicos que posibilitan la participación de la mujer en el desarrollo rural. Report of the Regional Round Table. Santiago: FAO.

FAO (1990b) La integración de la mujer en la pesca artesanal. Santiago: FAO.

FAO (1990c) Estudios de caso de organizaciones de mujeres rurales en cinco países de la zona andina: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú y Venezuela. Santiago: FAO.

FAO (1991 a) Informe de la mesa redonda regional para constituir una red de cooperación técnica de instituciones y organismos de apoyo a la mujer rural. El Salvador: FAO.

FAO (1991 b) Informe de los talleres subregionales sobre la ejecución del plan de acción de la FAO, "La mujer en el desarrollo agrícola". El Salvador: FAO

FAO (1991 c) Women in Agricultural Development. FAO Plan of Action. Rome: FAO.

FAO (1991 d) "Organizaciones de mujeres en los países de la zona andina", Bolivia: FAO

FAO(1992) Situación jurídica de la mujer rural diecinueve países de América Latina. Rome: FAO

FAO(1993a) Manual para la aplicación de la metodología de investigación participativa entre mujeres (IPEM). Santiago: FAO

FAO(1993b) Mujeres rurales de América Latina y el Caribe. Santiago: FAO

FAO (1993c) Proceso de formulación del plan de ejecución de la política de mujer rural. El caso de Colombia. Bogota: FAO.

FAO (1995a) Informe del Seminario Taller Subregional sobre la Participación de la mujer en el desarrollo rural y la descentralización. Caracas: FAO.

FAO (1995b) Looking towards Beijing 95. Rural women in Latin America and the Caribbean. Santiago: FAO.

FAO (1995c) Ministerial Meeting on Food Security. Ottawa: FAO.

FAO (1996) World Food Summit. Draft of a policy statement and Plan of Action. Rome: FAO

FAO/IICA (1995) Taller de estadísticas con enfoque de genero. Compilación: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Perú y Venezuela. Bogota: FAO/IICA.

FAO/WFP (1996) Como hacer frente al hambre en un mundo donde abundan los alimentos: Tareas para la ayuda alimentaria. Rome: FAO/WFP.

FAO/RUTA III (1996), Vocabulario referido a genero. Guatemala: FAO.

FLACSO (1993) Mujeres Latinoamericanas en cifras. Santiago: FAO.

Gutierrez, M. and J. Zapp (1985) Mujer semilla alimento. Bogota: Editorial Presencia.

IDB (1989) El impacto de los proyectos de desarrollo sobre la pobreza. Pans: IDB.

IICA (1980) Participación de la mujer en el desarrollo rural de América Latina y el Caribe. San Jose: IICA.

IICA (1991a) Mujer rural-desarrollo rural. San Jose: IICA.

IICA (1991 b) Mujer y modernización agrícola; balance, perspectivas y estrategias. San Jose: IICA.

IICA (1992) Estudio de las organizaciones centroamericanas que trabajan con la mujer rural y producen materiales comunicaciones. San Jose: IICA.

IICA (1993) Mujer, sistemas de producción y transferencia de tecnología. Quito: IICA.

IICA (1994) Políticas agropecuarias frente a las mujeres productoras de alimentos en América

INSTRAW (1984/85) Mujer y desarrollo. Santo Domingo: INSTRAW.

Leon, M. and C. Deere (1986). La mujer y la política agraria en América Latina. ACEP. Bogota: Siglo veintiuno.

Lopez, Rubiela (1990). Proyecto mujer y tierra en la reforma agraria. Bogota.

Lopez, C. et al. (1989) La incorporación de la mujer en las políticas de desarrollo. CEPAL Review, No. 39. December.

Luna, L.(ed.) (1991) Genero, clase y raza en América Latina. Algunas aportaciones. Barcelona: Promociones y publicaciones universitarias.

Luna L. (ed.) (1991) Mujeres y sociedad. Nuevos enfoques teóricos y metodológicos. Barcelona: Promociones y publicaciones universitarias.

Medrano, D. (1990) Fortalecimiento de la participación de la mujer rural en el proceso de reactivación y desarrollo agropecuario en América Latina y el Caribe. San Jose: IICA.

Medrano, D. (1993) El HIMAT y la participación de la mujer campesina en los minidistritos de riego. Bogota: Ministry of Agriculture.

Medrano, D. (1996) La mujer rural como productora de alimentos: bases y criterios para el segundo concurso andino de mujeres en microempresas rurales de alimentos. Bogota: UNIFEM.

Ochoa, S, N. (1994) Análisis de la Política del sector agropecuario frente a la mujer productora de alimentos en la región andina. Bogota: IICA-IDB.

Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (1994). El desarrollo rural en América Latina hacia el siglo XXI. Tomos I y II.. Bogota: Editorial Presencia.

Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (1993) Jefatura femenina de hogares zonas rurales. El caso de Montelíbano. Bogota: Avances 5.

Rodriguez, P. (1990) Modalidades de participación de la mujer rural en los servicios estatales de extensión. El caso colombiano. Bogota: UNIFEM.

Rugeles, L. and A. G. Gaitán (1994) Políticas agropecuarias frente a la mujer productora de alimentos. National Workshop, Colombia. Bogota: IICA.

UNDP (1995) Informe sobre desarrollo humano 1995. Mexico: UNDP.

UNDP/IDB (1993). Reforma social y pobreza. Hacia una agenda integrada de desarrollo: UNDP/IDB

UNDP/Office of the President of the Republic of Colombia (1994) Mujer y Poder. Elementos para la discusión. Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing 1995. Bogota.

UNICEF (1989) El ajuste invisible. Los efectos de la crisis económica en las mujeres pobres. Bogota: UNICEF.

UNICEF (1991a) El protagonismo de la mujer imprime un nuevo enfoque al desarrollo rural. La experiencia en Huehuetenango, Guatemala. Santiago: UNICEF.

UNICEF (1991b) Estado y sociedad civil conjugando esfuerzos en apoyo a la mujer. Bogota: UNICEF.

Universidad Externado de Colombia, Republic of Colombia, Office of the President and the British Council (1995) Planeación con Perspectiva de Genero. Bogota.

Vargas De Roa, R.M. (1994) Mujer Rural en Colombia. Situación, avances y proyecciones. Paper presented in a Seminar/Workshop on Women's Participation in Rural Development and Decentralization. Caracas: FAO.

Vargas De Roa, R.M. (1995) Nuevos enfoques de desarrollo social y planeación en el sector agropecuario: la política para la mujer rural. Paper presented at an International Seminar on Family and Social Policy in the 1990s. Manizales.

Zapata, E. et al. (1994) Mujeres rurales ante el nuevo milenio. Mexico: Ford Foundation and Colegio de Postgraduados.