Connecting Public Policies for Family Farmers and Women’s Empowerment: The Case of the Brazilian Semi-Arid
1
Institute of Geography, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
2
Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
3
Rural technical assistant, coordinator of the Cooperativa Sertão Forte de Casa Nova e Região (COOAF), Casa Nova, Bahia 47300-000, Brazil
4
UNESCO Chair for Sustainable Mountain Development, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2020, 12(15), 5961; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12155961
Received: 2 June 2020 / Revised: 13 July 2020 / Accepted: 20 July 2020 / Published: 24 July 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Women and Sustainability)
The role played by women in worldwide food production and food security has reinvigorated debates about the recognition of women’s rights in the rural sector regarding better working conditions and the reduction of gender inequalities. In the 1980s, the social movement in Brazil restructured the politics in the agrarian sector by integrating farmers’ rights and women’s demands. Against this background, the objective of this study is to analyze, through the actors’ perspectives, whether and how the combination of public policies for family farmers affected the socio-economic and political empowerment of women. Our case study covers family farmers from traditional communities located in the Brazilian semi-arid. The results show that women achieved economic stability by participating in public food procurement programmes. In addition, access to cisterns released women from the daily work of collecting water. Women became more involved with political issues, increasing participation in institutions such as NGOs, associations and cooperatives. Among the negative aspects, the study found that the sexual division of labor increased within the household context, and, despite being fundamental for ensuring household food security, women still struggle to have access to the means of production.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Brandão, E.A.F.; Santos, T.d.R.; Rist, S. Connecting Public Policies for Family Farmers and Women’s Empowerment: The Case of the Brazilian Semi-Arid. Sustainability 2020, 12, 5961. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12155961
AMA Style
Brandão EAF, Santos TdR, Rist S. Connecting Public Policies for Family Farmers and Women’s Empowerment: The Case of the Brazilian Semi-Arid. Sustainability. 2020; 12(15):5961. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12155961
Chicago/Turabian StyleBrandão, Emily A.F., Thiago d.R. Santos, and Stephan Rist. 2020. "Connecting Public Policies for Family Farmers and Women’s Empowerment: The Case of the Brazilian Semi-Arid" Sustainability 12, no. 15: 5961. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12155961
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