Sixteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

The large-scale industrial agriculture model does not only damage the environment but also threatens the well-being of non-Western societies. Women are traditionally farmers and the providers of productive resources to the household in the developing countries. They use local knowledge and techniques, which are passed from one generation to another, in order to protect the ecosystem and the prosperity/health of their communities. In other words, it is the responsibility of women farmers to think about the needs of future generations. However, the neoliberal agricultural model devalues women’s contribution to the preservation, sustainability, and well-being in the traditional production cycles. It also heightens the social and economic vulnerabilities of women since women tend to pay higher costs than men for the industrialization of the sector while their work remains unacknowledged. This study discusses how the neoliberal norms articulated in the agricultural sector disempower women as economic agents, disrupt their access to land, food and other resources and damage households/communities/societies. Firstly, privatization of land enhances men’s authority regarding the management of family assets, which usually results in the loss of these assets as the main source of income for women and future generations. Secondly, the export-based agriculture creates a constant demand for cheap labor, which matches women with low paid and low skilled jobs. This phenomena along with the corporate farming methods and the Green Revolution Technologies lead to the destruction of women’s traditional agrarian knowledge and break their control over the products they grow and use in their communities.