In Colombia, only 26% of rural women own the land they cultivate, despite representing 40% of the agricultural workforce. Through organizations like Fensuagro, these women advocate for peasant and popular feminism, emphasizing the importance of food sovereignty and collective action. Their efforts encompass educational initiatives, cooperative formations, and efforts toward land restitution, aiming for structural change in the agrarian system.
In Colombia, peasant women are at the forefront of both struggle and resistance, advocating for their rights through movements such as the National Unitary Agricultural Trade Union Federation (Fensuagro). They are building a unique form of feminism rooted in agriculture, which emphasizes solidarity and collective efforts among rural communities. Despite facing immense challenges, these women are pivotal in striving for food sovereignty, directly influencing what is cultivated and how rural communities are nourished.
Rural Colombian women generate nearly half of the food produced in these areas and are custodians of native seeds, water resources, and ancestral knowledge. Their work is essential for achieving food sovereignty, which encompasses not just the ability to choose crops, but also the fight against agribusiness practices that threaten their livelihoods. Fensuagro succinctly articulates, “Peasant and popular feminism is women’s struggle for land, for water, for the right to live with dignity….”
This form of feminism, shaped by organizations like the Latin American Coordination of Rural Organizations and La Vía Campesina, challenges various oppressions, including machismo, land dispossession, and violence faced by women. It advocates for structural transformations that prioritize social justice and gender equity to dismantle the patriarchal and neoliberal systems that threaten rural women’s existence.
Despite comprising 40% of the agricultural workforce, only 26% of rural women in Colombia possess ownership of the land they cultivate, presenting significant barriers to their independence. Nevertheless, these women have established educational initiatives, agricultural cooperatives, and political empowerment programs that aim to foster leadership and community resilience.
From various regions of Colombia—including the Cauca Mountains, Llanos del Meta, Caribbean coasts, highlands, and the Amazon—organized women and peasant groups have initiated farmers’ markets, pursued land restitution efforts, and developed networks for collective care that confront traditional views on labor. Their activism transcends personal recognition, advocating for a comprehensive transformation of Colombia’s agrarian and economic models.
As stated by La Vía Campesina, “With feminism, there is food sovereignty.” Rural women demonstrate that their commitment to reclaiming land, protecting seeds, and participating in activism ensures that the future of Colombia’s countryside will embody feminist principles or may risk losing its essence completely.
In summary, rural women in Colombia play an indispensable role in food production and are crucial to the advocacy for land rights and food sovereignty. Through their collective activism and support from organizations like Fensuagro and La Vía Campesina, they not only challenge societal norms but also strive for a more just and equitable agrarian model. Their ongoing struggle reflects an unwavering commitment to transforming both their communities and the broader rural landscape in Colombia.
Original Source: viacampesina.org
