Women's Land. Reflections on Rural Women Access to Land in Latin
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Reflections on rural women’s access to land in Latin America Carmen Diana Deere Susana Lastarria-Cornhiel Claudia Ranaboldo Coordinator: Patricia Costas This publication was coordinated by Fundación TIERRA (Bolivia), a member of the International Land Coalition (ILC) – Latin America. ILC’s “Women’s Land Rights” component in Latin America is coordinated by Fundación TIERRA. The contents of this publication may be freely reproduced, translated, and distributed, provided that the International Land Coalition and Fundación TIERRA are credited. The ILC would be grateful to receive a copy of any document that uses this publication as its source material, which may be emailed to: [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this publication are exclusive to the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of ILC or of its members and donors. © 2011 International Land Coalition http://americalatina.landcoalition.org http://www.landcoalition.org http://www.ftierra.org This publication was produced with the support of: General coordinator: Patricia Costas Monje Contributors: Sandra Apaza (Regional Communications Coordinator, International Land Coalition – Latin America) and Sabine Pallas (Programme Officer – Women’s Land Rights, International Land Coalition) Editor: Soledad Domínguez Spanish original paper version Layout: Jaime Alvarez Printed by: Scorpion ISBN: 978-99954-770-4-2 Legal Registration Number (Bolivia): 4-1-2204-11 Printed in La Paz -Bolivia, 2011 English digital versión Layout: Jaime Alvarez Translation: Sara Shields (Presentation, Prologue, Chapters III and IV) La Paz - Bolivia, 2013 ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THIS BOOK ACUA Programa Regional de Apoyo a las Poblaciones Rurales de Ascendencia Africana de América Latina (Regional Support Programme for Rural African-Descent Communities in Latin America) CABI Capitanía del Alto y Bajo Isoso (Captaincy of Upper and Lower Isoso) CEMCA Centro de Estudios Mexicanos y Centroamericanos (Mexican and Central American Studies Centre) CIMCI Central Intercomunal de Mujeres de la Capitanía de Isoso (Isoso Captaincy Women’s Inter-Community Organisation) CINEP Centro de Investigación y Educación Popular (Research and Popular Education Centre) CISEPA/PUCP Centro de Investigaciones Sociales, Económicas y Antropológicas de la Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (Social, Economic and Anthropological Research Centre, Catholic University of Peru) CNMCIOB-“BS” Confederación Nacional de Mujeres Campesinas Indígenas Originarias de Bolivia “Bartolina Sisa” (“Bartolina Sisa” National Confederation of Indigenous and Rural Women of Bolivia) COCAMTROP Coordinadora Campesina de Mujeres del Trópico de Cochabamba (Tropics of Cochabamba Rural Women’s Umbrella Organisation) CONGCOOP Coordinación de ONGs y Cooperativas (Umbrella organisation of NGOs and Cooperatives) DTR-IC Desarrollo Territorial Rural con Identidad Cultural (Rural Territorial Development with Cultural Identity) FAO United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation IFAD International Fund for Agricultural Development ILC International Land Coalition INRA Instituto Nacional de Reforma Agraria de Bolivia (National Agrarian Reform Institute, Bolivia) LSMS Living Standards Measurement Study MAS Movimiento al Socialismo (Movement to Socialism) MST Movimiento sin Tierra (Landless workers’ movement) MYDEL Mujeres y Desarrollo Económico Local (Women and Local Economic Development) OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development PROCASUR Corporación Regional Programa de Capacitación en Desarrollo Rural (Regional Rural Development Training Programme) RIMISP Centro Latinoamericano para el Desarrollo Rural (Latin American Rural Development Centre) UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNIFEM United Nations Development Fund for Women UN-INSTRAW UN International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women UN Women United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women Contents Presentation .................................................................................................................................................................9 Prologue ......................................................................................................................................................................15 I. Women and access to communal land in Latin America Susana Lastarria-Cornhiel 1. Land tenure in Latin America ...................................................................................................................19 1.1 Women’s right to land .........................................................................................................................20 1.2 Communal land and gender ..............................................................................................................21 1.3 Non-legal obstacles .............................................................................................................................22 2. Two case studies: rural women in Guatemala and Bolivia ...................................................................23 2.1 The structure of land tenure in Bolivia and Guatemala ..................................................................23 2.2 Indigenous communities and forms of land tenure .......................................................................25 2.3 Women’s rights to land ........................................................................................................................26 3. Conclusions .................................................................................................................................................31 Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................................33 List of tables Table 1: Economic indicators in Bolivia and Guatemala (2008) ................................................................23 Table 2: Forms of access to agricultural land and tenure by gender in Guatemala (1998-1999) ...........27 Table 3: Indicators of wellbeing in Guatemala (2007-2008) .......................................................................28 Table 4: Indicators of wellbeing in Bolivia (2007-2008) ..............................................................................31 II. Land and rural women’s economic independence: progress and challenges for research Carmen Diana Deere 1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................................41 2. Economic independence, bargaining power, and economic empowerment .......................................42 3. The shortcomings of agricultural censuses .............................................................................................44 6 Women’s Land 4. The gender gap in land ownership ............................................................................................................46 4.1 The distribution of plots of land ........................................................................................................46 4.2 Land ownership rights ........................................................................................................................47 4.3 The distribution of landowners ........................................................................................................48 5. Ownership and control over land .............................................................................................................50 5.1 Individual ownership and joint ownership ......................................................................................52 6. Land ownership and bargaining power within the household ..............................................................54 7. Factors that favour women’s access to land ownership ...........................................................................56 7.1 Changes in the law and in land redistribution processes ..............................................................56 7.2 Collectively-owned land .....................................................................................................................59 7.3 Changes in the legal framework and in everyday practices ..........................................................60 8. Conclusion: the big gaps in the research ..................................................................................................62 References ............................................................................................................................................................63 List of tables Table 1: Distribution of principal farmers by sex, according to agricultural censuses in 11 Latin American countries ........................................................................................................45 Table 2: Distribution of ownership of plots of land by sex in four Latin American countries ................47 Table 3: Distribution of households by land ownership rights and by sex in four Latin American countries ..................................................................................................................48 Table 4: Distribution of landowners by sex in six Latin American countries............................................49 Table 5: Distribution of landowners and farm decision-makers by sex in households that own their land in Honduras and Nicaragua