Indicators for the Analysis of Peasant Women’s Equity and Empowerment Situations in a Sustainability Framework: A Case Study of Cacao Production in Ecuador

Abstract

Family agriculture is a fundamental pillar in the construction of agroecological agri-food alternatives fostering processes of sustainable rural development where social equity represents a central aspect. Despite agroecology's critical openness, this area has not yet incorporated an explicit gender approach allowing an appropriate problematization and analysis of the cultural inequalities of gender relations in agriculture, women's empowerment processes and their nexus with sustainability. This work presents an organized proposal of indicators to approach and analyze the degree of peasant women's equity and empowerment within a wide sustainability framework. After a thorough bibliographical review, 34 equity and empowerment indicators were identified and organized into six basic theoretical dimensions. Following the collection of empirical data (from 20 cacao-producing families), the indicators were analyzed and reorganized on the basis of hierarchical cluster analysis and explanatory interdependence into a new set of six empirical dimensions: (1) access to resources, education and social participation; (2) economic-personal autonomy and self-esteem; (3) gender gaps (labor rights, health, work and physical violence); (4) techno-productive decision-making and remunerated work; (5) land ownership and mobility; and (6) diversification of responsibilities and social and feminist awareness. Additionally, a case study is presented that analyzes equity and empowerment in the lives of two rural cacao-producing peasant women in Ecuador.

From Transition to Domains of Transformation: Getting to Sustainable and Just Food Systems through Agroecology

“…Nevertheless, agroecology does not change gender relations by itself and much of agroecology does not explicitly address how patriarchy and other forms of gender-based inequality can undermine a socially just process of transformation [116]. Explicit efforts must be made to value women's work, empower them politically and address socially constructed gender roles.…”

“…Calls are made for governments to support agroecology by prioritizing the implementation of the recommendation on the rights of women living in rural areas made by the UN, including their rights to participate and benefit from rural development, rights to health, education, employment, economic, social and public life, protection from violence, and rights to land and other ecosystem elements [120]. Studies on initiatives that were successful in transforming gender relations in agrifood systems show the key role of iterative, dialogue-based, and women-led experimentation with agroecological practices such as diversification, intercropping, nutrition education, and marketing innovations [100,114,116]. They have developed a useful set of indicators allowing critical analysis of existing gender inequalities and the identification of pathways to reinforce women's empowerment through agroecology to support more equitable roles.…”

Domain E: Equity

“…Nevertheless, agroecology per se does not explicitly address patriarchy and other forms of gender-based inequality that can undermine a socially just process of transformation (de Marco Larrauri et al 2016). While agroecology's theoretical underpinnings and principles are rooted in the promotion of equity, its practice does not always reflect this.…”

Sustainable Local Development: An Overview of the State of Knowledge

“…For them, development that does not permeate the whole of society is not development. SLD initiatives improve the empowerment of women, making them owners of their work and participants in the evolution of society [56,57].…”