El trabajo femenino indígena en la economía agrícola familiar en la Amazonía del Ecuador

Abstract

This article analyzes the situation of female work among the households in Miazi and Shaime, two Shuar communities in the Southern Ecuadorian Amazon, in a context of colonization and recent local market opening. The implication of women’s work in terms of agro-biodiversity and their family diet are also observed, as well as the subjective assessment of their participation. Findings depict mainly two spaces of agricultural production in the interviewees’ household farms: the aja or garden for self-consumption and the market crops. This characterization is based on the role that women fulfill in each space and the workload they have in the production process. In addition, some excerpts from interviews to various local and community actors are presented; they contextualize the uneven conditions and over-exploitation on which women’s work develops. This analysis reveals that, although invisible, women’s work is central to a developing agricultural market economy in these ecologically sensitive ecosystems.