Media Center

Press Release

OAS Examines the Role of Women in Agriculture and the Obstacles They Face

The Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Permanent Executive Committee of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CEPCIDI) held a joint session today in which they examined the role of women in agriculture and the obstacles they face in countries of the region.

The event, titled, “Women in Agriculture: The Contribution of Women to Agriculture and Food Security in the Americas,” was held in the framework of the Inter-American Year of Women and the 68th anniversary of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA).

During the meeting, the Chair of the Permanent Council and Representative of El Salvador to the OAS, Ambassador Joaquín Maza, highlighted the need to “create a new vision for agriculture” in the aftermath of the food pricing crisis of 2008 and the global financial crisis. “In that new vision, the contribution of women is significant for the agricultural development of the Americas, which has large repercussions on food security.”

The Chair of CEPCIDI and Permanent Representative of Colombia to the OAS, Ambassador Luis Alfonso Hoyos, said the event “must serve to generate awareness and a stronger commitment by the OAS and the IICA to the goal of supporting the women who live and work in rural zones and who are an important motor driving stability and the survival of their families in our Member States.”

The IICA representative in the United States, David C. Hatch, placed emphasis on the debt towards women farmers, who represent almost half of the small farmers in Latin America and the Caribbean, and who “provide their families with healthy food as well as supply much of the food needs to cities, towns and rural areas, thus contributing to food security for all.”

“Despite their significant contributions, they can suffer from exclusion in production systems throughout the hemisphere,” he added. “The most important gaps are found in access to education, access to labor markets, land ownership, access to affordable credit, technology, technical assistance, and training.”

The Permanent Representative of Jamaica to the OAS, Ambassador Audrey Marks, talked about the contributions of women to agricultre and food security from the perspective of her country, highlighting that agriculture counted for 18 percent of employment and 5.6 percent of Gross Domestic Product in 2009. “In Jamaica women have always had a predominant role in agriculture and we continue to play an important role in domestic food production, which contributes to food self-sufficiency and food security.”

The Executive Secretary of the Inter-American Commission of Women (CIM), Carmen Moreno, said that at the global level, women represent a great power since they produce between 60 and 80 percent of food in developing countries. Despite this, she said, “they continue to face strong limitations in their access to land, credit, technology and agricultural resources and other key resources for production.”

The Vice President of the Rural Business Trade Association of Guatemala (AGER), Petronila Morales, shared some of her experiences, highlighting the contribution of women to rural development and food security, the achievements of women in agriculture, and the obstacles they face. On this last point she noted that one of the great challenges is “food sovereignty,” which is “the right of people to nutritional and culturally adequate foods that are accessible and produced in a sustainable and ecological way, and their right to decide their own food and productive systems.” In this sense, she called on women to “break the mold that only men have the right to study,” adding that “we must make women visible and empower them in the processes in which they have been contributing and recognize their economic, social and cultural rights.”

Lastly, the Director General of the Organization for the Rehabilitation of the Environment of Haiti, Monique Pierre Finnigan, indicated that 88 percent of the rural population of her country lives in poverty and that Haiti imports 51 percent of its food. This contrasts with the situation three decades ago, when Haiti imported less than 19 percent of its food. In this sense, she highlighted the importance of the role of Haitian women in agriculture and the obstacles they face. “Policy makers do not incorporate women as an essential actor to reckon with in the rural economy. Access to basic social services and economical centers is arduous, long distances have to be traveled on rough roads to reach places such as markets, plantations and places where public services are provided like schools, health centers, places to get your legal documents and local authority offices. All these are factors that make daily life a hardship.”

During the meeting, the following delegations also took the floor: Uruguay, the United States, Colombia, El Salvador, Panama, Guatemala, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Haiti.

The joint session was held in the Simón Bolívar Hall at Organization headquarters in Washington, DC.

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-445/10