Quintais produtivos agroecológicos: espaço educativo de transformação da vida das mulheres agricultoras rurais no sertão do pajeú

Abstract

The agroecological productive backyard is an important methodological tool that has helped rural women farmers to escape invisibility, generate income and take a leading role, contributing to transforming gender relations in family farming. The experience presented is carried out in the rural community of Gameleira, municipality of Itapetim, in the hinterland of Pernambuco. The methodology used was based on holding a meeting in which the research proposal was presented to the women farmers, mainly identifying those who were already being monitored through the agroecological booklet by the organization that operates in the community, the Rede de Mulheres Produtoras do Pajeú. Five farmers were identified for the research and each one received a spreadsheet with information from the booklet so that they could monitor their production, consumption, donation, exchange and commercialization for three months. Each farmer also answered a socioeconomic and productive questionnaire highlighting important questions for analysis about how they see themselves in this space of the agroecological productive backyard. As a result of this research, the recognition of women as heads of the family stands out, many consider themselves to be single mothers, that is, they do not have partners and/or spouses in the division of tasks. They consider themselves empowered. They recognize that the activities they carry out in the backyard are work, which ensures food security for their families and generates income through the sale of surplus. The results also demonstrated that women dedicate an average of 4 hours to productive activities and an average of 8 to 12 hours to domestic activities. This work showed that the fair division of domestic work is still a major challenge for women, therefore, it is essential to have this debate so that it is incorporated into specific public policies, only then will the necessary transformations to minimize gender inequalities occur. On the other hand, the experience of the backyard also highlights how it is, for women farmers, a space for building autonomy and, mainly, the recognition of the protagonism of women farmers