Agrifood systems, food security and rural development: a look at the situation of rural women in Colombia

Abstract

The approach and functioning of capitalist agrifood systems pose a challenge to the achievement of food security and a broader understanding of rural subjects–especially women–and their local forms of production and development. In this context, it is urgent to achieve measures that recognize the role of rural women in guaranteeing the right to food and the establishment of alternative agrifood systems that offer greater guarantees. Thus, the aim of this article is to expose the contradictions inherent in capitalist agrifood systems,the impact they have had on the lives of rural women and the paradox of the role played by women in such systems in relation to food security. To this end, we show the case of the Women’s Committee Asociación Campesina (Acit) de Inzá Tierradentro en Inzá, Cauca, as a successful alternative process in the incorporation of woman as an active subject of change in agrifood-systems.