This work deals with the situation of women’s life and work in family farming in the North of Minas Gerais semiarid, focusing on the work social division and gender in the Jaíba Project. In this context the Step I was chosen inthis project in the area A: NS1 and NS2 as the locus of this thesis including the following objectives: to analyze the dynamics of women's work and gender in family farming in the Jaíba Project (JP); to  characterize  and  analyze  the  sociodemography  and women’s  work  in  the  Jaíba Project  Perimeter,  to  analyze  women’s  work  and  income  in family  farming   in  the project,  considering  the  factors  of  inclusion/exclusion  related  to gender;  to  analyze gender dynamics, social and sexual division of work in the  family, in the agricultural activity and women's life situation and work of the JP and finally, to discuss public policy  and  gender  in  family  farming  of  the  JP  from  the  perspective  of  female empowerment and rural development. This qualitative  study had the participation of women,  mediators,  family members  and  associations  presidents.  There  were interviews with a semistructured guideline with twenty  two (22) women of the area A, six  (6)  mediators  and  six  (6)  members  of  the family.  There  was  also  a  group discussion with other sixteen (16) women members of AMA association. Furthermore, the  data  were  complemented  with  document  information data  of the  Project,  with observation and the field diary. The results showed that the social value attributed to women’s  work  of  the  JP  show  gender  inequalities  preventing  better  distribution of domestic tasks among family members reinforcing the paradigm of "naturalization" of work sexual  division.  The  work  social  division  is  established  in  the  center  of  the social,  symbolic and  cultural  representation,  consistent  with  the  expected  role  of women and men. On the one hand, it is noteworthy that in the rural Jaíba somehow and  although  still  weak,  some barriers  destabilize  and  gradually  postures  and attitudes acquire new meaning when considering asymmetric relations of gender. The search of power in the productive and public process and the awakening to women's citizenship emerge as factors that can cause changes in gender relations. However, the  perception  of favorable  aspects  of  social  exclusion  and  gender in  the  JP  were more pronounced as the limited social participation ofwomen in public spaces is an invisibility factor of female performance and recognition of their role with equity and the difficulties regarding the mechanism for the rural  credit operation and specifically Pronaf-Mulher. These  reflections  lead  to  the  perception  that  barriers  for  obtaining rural  credit  is  related  to access  and  accessibility  to  the  media,  sustained  in pedagogies  capable  of  producing  effects of  knowledge-power  for  women. Anyway, life and work situation of women also undergoes stringent changes in gender, social and family dynamics in the broader context of the JP.