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In August 2016, the Guatemalan government’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA) approved the first national gender equality policy in the areas of food security, nutrition and rural development, which advocates for rural women and indigenous peoples.
The new policy aims to eliminate the discrimination that rural women and indigenous peoples of Guatemala face every day. Women can use the policy to demand that the Ministry reduce inequalities in rural areas and promote the empowerment of rural women in the political arena. In this way, the policy not only guarantees that women’s voices are heard in rural development processes, but also enables them to access agricultural resources and technical assistance.
The policy, developed in consultation with women’s groups and a range of different stakeholders, is a milestone in the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), to which Guatemala is one of the 189 States parties.
While gender equality in Guatemala has improved in recent years, male hegemony remains a strong feature of its culture, especially in rural areas.
Men usually manage material, social and political resources and make decisions. In rural Guatemala, household chores are considered the primary responsibility of women and take precedence over income-generating activities. Women’s education levels are often low and there are few formal employment opportunities for them in rural areas. If rural women work on family farms, they are not paid and receive no recognition.
As men increasingly migrate elsewhere, women farmers are beginning to gain more recognition; although they still face discrimination, such as lower wages. Cultural attitudes also prevent women from joining farmer groups and cooperatives. In addition, women farmers in Guatemala have a very low rate of land ownership (only 7.8% of landowners are women), which makes it difficult for them to access credit and weakens their decision-making power.
“It is well known that rural women in Guatemala face multiple challenges in many aspects of their lives, chief among which is limited access to land, training and credit. They also face difficulties in finding decent employment opportunities as they experience multiple forms of discrimination based on their gender, socioeconomic status and where they live,” said Milvian Aspuac, coordinator of the Women’s Development Association.
Putting policy into practice
To address this inequality, FAO is helping the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA) to strengthen its capacity to develop gender equality policies and organizational processes and mechanisms to promote gender equality. FAO is also assisting the Ministry to put these policies into practice.
“As a state party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, Guatemala recognizes the critical role women play in rural economic development and food security, but we need help to meet our legal obligations to implement the Convention,” explained Floridalma Lopez Sincal, head of MAGA’s gender unit.
Guatemala therefore first turned to FAO in 2013, requesting technical advice to support the activities of the Special Cabinet for Women, which had been established the previous year. FAO first brought together 20 ministers to raise awareness about the inclusion of rural women in food security and rural development projects. The result was a better understanding of rural women’s rights and how gender equality and women’s empowerment can improve food security and reduce poverty.
To influence policy development and leverage the unique strengths and growing collaboration between different institutions, FAO helped to establish a technical working group on rural development that will work across institutions and sectors, with a focus on gender and indigenous peoples. Finally, through a broad consultation process from 2016 to 2017, FAO helped MAGA to plan the implementation, monitoring and evaluation mechanisms of its gender equality policy, and to conduct public awareness-raising activities to inspire cultural change.
A milestone in gender equality
Guatemala’s cultural shift is thanks to the combined efforts of FAO and other UN agencies, which have enabled government officials and civil society to work more closely together to promote rural development in the country. This “behind-the-scenes” work has played an important role in strengthening the political will to develop and approve gender equality policies in Guatemala.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food implemented a gender equality policy in 2016. “It is undoubtedly a milestone in promoting gender equality in agriculture and rural development in the country”, said Felipe Orellana, MAGA’s Vice Minister of Rural Development. With this policy, Guatemala ensures that one of its goals, namely to achieve a sustained improvement in the quality of life of rural and indigenous women, becomes a reality.
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