O trabalho da mulher na agricultura familiar: desafios e possibilidades para e no seu protagonismo

Abstract

This Undergraduate Thesis aims to understand the role of women in family farming, analyzing their tensions, contradictions, and challenges within the context of economic and social transformations in the Brazilian rural environment. It is a qualitative study based on bibliographic research and secondary data sources that discuss family farming, rural public policies, and gender inequalities, using data from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA), and the 2017 Agricultural Census, as well as legislation and programs related to family farming and the promotion of gender equality in rural areas. The analysis shows that although women play essential roles in food production, food security, and the strengthening of local economies, they still face historical inequalities, invisibility, and the undervaluation of their work. Public policies such as the National Program for Strengthening Family Farming (PRONAF Mulher), the Food Acquisition Program (PAA), the National School Feeding Program (PNAE), and the National Documentation Program for Rural Women Workers (PNDTR) have contributed to increasing women’s participation, but remain insufficient in the face of patriarchal structures and the sexual division of labor. Based on the historical-dialectical materialist method, it is understood that these inequalities reflect contradictions inherent to the capitalist mode of production, while also revealing that rural women have increasingly positioned themselves as protagonists in social movements, cooperatives, and associations, demanding visibility, autonomy, and recognition. Their participation strengthens not only family farming but also the struggle for a more just, sustainable, and equitable rural development.