Women’s empowerment in the coffee sector in Honduras

  • Authors:
    Michela Accerenzi, Katia Duke
    Publication:
    Revista de Fomento Social
    Year: 2023

Abstract

An empowerment strategy must cause changes in social structures and power relations. The degree of empowerment also depends on the combination of agency and opportunities’ structure, where the access to and the control of resources, the ability to make decisions and the final results are central elements. Therefore, empowerment includes both individual change and collective action, and implies the radical alteration of the processes and structures that reproduce the subordinate position of women as a gender.

Coffee represents the largest agricultural product and 35.4% of the total export in Honduras) However, women do not enjoy equal access to resources, nor do they equally participate in decisions; furthermore, they also carry a disproportionate burden of roles inside and outside the household.

This article analyses the barriers and opportunities of the Honduran coffee sector for the empowerment of women, using an ethnographic approach (participant observation and 59 interviews).

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