Cultivar a Igualdade: Mulheres Rurais, Sistemas Alimentares e Agroecologia na Península Ibérica

URGE’s overall objective is to drive transitions towards sustainable, fair, and inclusive food systems by endorsing gender equality in agriculture and rural areas, amplifying rural women’s voices and participation and the deployment of rural women's innovations in agroecology and policy development. Through a feminist participatory action research (PAR) approach, the proposed comparative and empirical research will broaden our understanding of gender disparities in food systems across Southern European contexts. This research will illuminate rural women’s lived experiences, perspectives, and leadership roles in fostering food sustainability, social inclusion, and balanced territorial development. To reach these overarching objectives, the project has the following specific objectives (SO): SO1. Analyse which factors facilitate or hinder women’s participation in agriculture and shed light on women’s perspectives and demands for building more sustainable, equitable, and inclusive agricultural and food policies, notably the CAP. SO2. Document, understand, expand and generate knowledge on Iberian rural women’s struggles and demands, historical and present-day, at the local, national, regional and European levels. SO3. Highlight and make visible the role and practices of rural women that contribute to the creation, maintenance, and dissemination of sustainable, fair, and inclusive food systems. In pursuing these specific objectives, the project’s approach involves conducting comparative research across three carefully selected case studies. The rationale for selecting these cases is multifaceted. First and foremost, there exists a significant research void regarding gender inequalities in agriculture and food and rural women’s lived experiences, perspectives, and struggles in Southern European contexts, particularly in the Iberian Peninsula. Second, Portugal and Spain exhibit contrasting levels of commitment and approaches to gender equality within their respective 2023-2027 CAP Strategic Plans. Third, the historical context of each country, characterised by prolonged dictatorships and entry into the EEC/EU in 1986, adds a layer of significance. The participation and leadership of rural women in agrarian struggles remain under-researched in both countries, despite their lengthy history of rural conflicts (Ortega-López & Iglesias, 2021). Fourth, these cases and the organisations with which our project will collaborate offer a rich diversity of contexts, encompassing different scopes, organisational models, and levels of involvement in rural women’s issues, agroecology, food sustainability, and gender equity. The selected organisations, SLG and EHNE-Bizkaia, operate in Spanish regions characterised by disparate agrarian structures and unique socio-political contexts and have a long history of agrarian activism at multiple levels. EHNE-Bizkaia boasts significant international experience and has defined its stance on food sovereignty and agroecology through training, solidarity food economies, and engagement in gender justice (Calvário et al., 2020). SLG has a special gender engagement at the organisational level, promoting parity and women’s groups and networks at the core of its activity. In Portugal, our collaboration with diverse organisations aims to cultivate social learning and territorial-based innovations, with a particular focus on the Centre region.