Tenth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

Public policies are confronting the new paradigms of modernity, where the theoretical bases that sustain the notion of complex systems force scientists to rethink the political scene and its modelling. Nuevo Leon, without being an agricultural reference of Mexico, has public policies that seek to develop this productive sector, although not in a comprehensive manner among all social and governmental actors. This research seeks to examine the role of women in agricultural and rural development in northeastern Mexico. The analysis is based on the current situation and sociodemographic characteristics of rural women in Nuevo Leon, highlighting food policy and how it is being implemented in the present context. The study estimates that, considering the transformations of the Mexican countryside in recent decades and their implications on rural women’s livelihoods, policy studies can be more sophisticated and sensitive to the sustainability paradigm. Once this has been problematized, the determinants for the integration of women in government programs to support rural areas and agricultural development are outlined.