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Value-added agriculture: a context for the empowerment of French women farmers?

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  • Alexis Annes

    (UMR LISST – Dynamiques Rurales, INP-PURPAN)

  • Wynne Wright

    (Michigan State University
    Michigan State University)

Abstract

While women’s contributions to French agriculture are increasingly recognized, less clear is whether increasing visibility translates into empowerment opportunities. Using qualitative data drawn from interviews with French value-added farmers with diverse life experiences and trajectories, we examine how women have been able to achieve empowerment and the ways in which value-added agriculture specifically fosters an empowering context. We adopt a conceptualization of empowerment from the development scholarship in order to establish a baseline for scrutiny, viewing empowerment as a multidimensional process constituting the “power to” realize one’s goals, the opportunity to exercise “power with” others and the ability to find and nurture “power within” the self. The findings of this study indicate that through the performance of value-added agriculture, women were able to engage in the process of empowerment. They were able to exercise authority in the daily management of their farm operation, explore and define their own methods of work, to express creativity, satisfy needs for social ties and build a professional identity. However, our results also suggest the persistence of patriarchal and agrarian ideology, undermining the empowerment process. We conclude by discussing the context of empowerment which might mediate this experience for women farmers.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexis Annes & Wynne Wright, 2016. "Value-added agriculture: a context for the empowerment of French women farmers?," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Springer, vol. 97(3), pages 185-201, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:roafes:v:97:y:2016:i:3:d:10.1007_s41130-016-0034-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s41130-016-0034-1
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    1. Rieu, Annie & Dahache, Sabrina, 2008. "S’installer comme agricultrice : sur la socialisation et la formation sexuée en agriculture," Review of Agricultural and Environmental Studies - Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement (RAEStud), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), vol. 88(3).
    2. Deepa Narayan, 2005. "Measuring Empowerment : Cross Disciplinary Perspectives," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7441.
    3. Catherine C. Benjamin, 1994. "The growing importance of diversification activities for French farm households [L'importance croissante des activités de diversification des ménages agricoles français]," Post-Print hal-02847751, HAL.
    4. Patrick Mundler & Danièle Ponchelet, 1999. "Agriculture et mobilité sociale. Ces agriculteurs venus d'ailleurs," Économie rurale, Programme National Persée, vol. 253(1), pages 21-27.
    5. Catherine Benjamin, 1994. "The growing importance of diversification activities for French farm households," Post-Print hal-01937035, HAL.
    6. Kabeer, Naila, 2001. "Conflicts Over Credit: Re-Evaluating the Empowerment Potential of Loans to Women in Rural Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 63-84, January.
    7. Naila Kabeer, 1999. "Resources, Agency, Achievements: Reflections on the Measurement of Women's Empowerment," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 30(3), pages 435-464, July.
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