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

Alexis Annes () and Wynne Wright
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Alexis Annes: UMR LISST–Dynamiques Rurales, INP-PURPAN,Toulouse, France et 275 voie du TOEC, BP 57611, 31076 Toulouse Cedex 3, France
Wynne Wright: Department of Community Sustainability et Department of Sociology, Michigan State University,131 Natural Resources Building, 480 Wilson Road, EastLansing, MI 48824, USA4

Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, 2016, vol. 97, issue 3, 185-201

Abstract: While women’s contributions to French agricultureare increasingly recognized, less clear is whether increasing vis-ibility translates into empowerment opportunities. Using qualita-tive data drawn from interviews with French value-addedfarmers with diverse life experiences and trajectories, we exam-ine how women have been able to achieve empowerment and theways in which value-added agriculture specifically fosters anempowering context. We adopt a conceptualization of empow-erment from the development scholarship in order to establish abaseline for scrutiny, viewing empowerment as a multidimen-sional process constituting theBpower to^realize one’sgoals,the opportunity to exerciseBpower with^others and the ability tofind and nurtureBpower within^theself.Thefindingsofthisstudy indicate that through the performance of value-added agri-culture, women were able to engage in the process of empower-ment. They were able to exercise authority in the daily manage-ment of their farm operation, explore and define their ownmethods of work, to express creativity, satisfy needs for socialties and build a professional identity. However, our results alsosuggest the persistence of patriarchal and agrarian ideology,undermining the empowerment process. We conclude bydiscussing the context of empowerment which might mediatethis experience for women farmers.

Keywords: Empowerment.Gender.Rural; culture.Value-added; agriculture.Women (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:rae:jouraf:v:97:y:2016:i:3:p:185-201

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