More than 50 women from the provinces of Guayas, El Oro, Santa Elena, Los Ríos and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas attended the dissemination of the Public Agricultural Policy for Rural Women (PAMUR), organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), through the Undersecretariat of Peasant Family Agriculture.
Women who years ago participated in the development of the National Agricultural Strategy for Rural Women (ENAMIR) participated in this dissemination.
“We are very pleased to be able to participate again, this time in the development of this policy,” said Marjorie Aspiazu, one of the producers.
The hope of the women is that what they have contributed will be accepted and included in the policy, which they are sure will benefit the approximately 3 million women who live in the rural sector of the country.
Gonzalo Alvarado, who was at the workshop representing the District Director of the MAG in Guayas, stated that the Ministry considers it important and necessary to address the challenges that women face due to inequality based on gender, especially rural women who have a high presence of labor in agriculture.
It is estimated that there are 747,140 women employed in agricultural production in the country, of which 86.3% are unpaid and represent approximately 645,000 women.
“The National Agricultural Strategy for Women is implemented through this State Department as a fundamental mechanism to seek equality between men and women in the agricultural sector,” said Alvarado.
The objective of the dissemination is to inform the producers about the scope of PAMUR and how this policy will have a positive impact on their productive development and overall well-being.
Alvarado said that one of the main concerns is to achieve the sustainability of this process throughout the country and to transcend to multi-sectoral levels, since the needs of rural territories and of women are not only agricultural but of various kinds.
Hence – she indicated – the need for the National Agricultural Strategy for Rural Women to be elevated to Intersectoral Public Policy, which allows the articulation of actions focused on specific gaps of this vulnerable population.
