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Abstract:
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"We have learned a great deal in a short time about women's roles and experiences of agriculture and rural life. Fundamental among our discoveries has been the certainty that women farm, on their own in some cases, or as partners in the work of family farms, performing essential household production tasks, as well as tending gardens, livestock, and assisting in the fields as needed. Indeed, we have learned that in many cultures women are the farmers, on whom families and communities depend for food production. We have also learned that women often help support family farm operations or their households through paid farm work for others, or through off-farm and nonfarm businesses or paid employment. From this knowledge has come further research and discussion of issues such as women's access to land and credit; the effects of policies, programs, and laws on farm and rural women; the consequences of changes in farm structure for the roles of women; the connections between support of the needs of farm and rural women and poverty and low-income rural households; and the implications of cultural, ethnic, and racial differences on the needs of women on farms. More recently has come discussion of rural and farm women as important players in successful approaches to food security and in the development and adoption of sustainable agricultural practices."
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