Nueva incorporación de mujeres en las actividades agrarias de Castilla y León

Abstract

For decades the participation of women in agrarian activities in Castilla y León has been marginal, reduced to that of mere «family aid» who- se work was invisible, although crucial, in many farms. Nevertheless, the visibility of women’s activity has also reached the agrarian sphere, through the Law of Shared Ownership and with the incorporation, voluntary or com- pulsory, of a group of trained women. Due to the difficulty of entering more traditional and masculinized production segments or due to the opportuni- ties offered by the most innovative, a part of the “new farmers” are heading to high-value and rapidly expanding productions, such as the vineyard, horticultural productions oriented to proximity markets (in organic or conventio- nal format) or non-traditional livestock (beekeeping, rabbit farming...). The result is a process, quantitatively minority but qualitatively significant, of innovation and change linked to the incorporation of women farmers with new mentalities and ways of doing things, which demonstrates the adaptability of rural spaces, even in areas of demographic regression. The objective of this paper is to analyse these processes of incorporation of women to the agricultural activities in Castilla y León and their innovative nature. The work methodology, as in any study with a gender perspective, incorporates quantitative methods, such as analysis of sources and official databases, and qualitative ones, such as conducting interviews and surveys.