Presence of Women in the Cuban Countryside

The presence of women dedicated to the agricultural sector has been growing in recent years after the application of policies aimed at strengthening the use of the land to produce food.

Women's participation currently has a special significance if you take into account that it is possibly one of the solutions to continue improving the sector with the necessary working force.

According to statistics carried out by the Small Farmers Association, ANAP, disclosed during their 11th Congress, this production force currently represents 17.4 percent of the total number of its members and having grown 40 percent compared to the previous year.

Among some of the achievements highlighted are the leadership positions in the base of the organizations and other levels of its association

Some of the initiatives developed to continue multiplying their participation is in addition the acquisition of abilities and knowledge that will allow them to assume challenges of the planned production development for the coming years in tasks linked to the increase of the Gross Domestic Product, GDP.

There are workshops, seminars and other events to increase the professional level, prestige and authority before the rest of society are held each year.

One of the actions taken towards that objective is their participation to the project; incorporation to the local development of rural women from an adequate genre perspective, developed in three municipalities of the Isle of Youth and financed by Al Sur in Spain.

With this in hand, 24 women originating from Florida, Camaguey; Guanajay, ARtemisa and Bartolome Maso in Granma received four subjects which includes training and the formation of abilities in legislation, communication, genre sensibility and feminist economy.

Irma Vasquez Alonso, coordinator of projects at ANAP, assured that the last issue allowed them to create a business plan, useful tool aimed at being more efficient and productive in their role in the countryside.

Experienced professors from the University of Havana, experts from the Cuban Jurists Association, social communicators and journalists, among others transmitted their experienced to the campesinas.

As part of the project members of the International Democratic Women's Federation and the Federation of Cuban Women had an active participation had an active participation.

For each one of the examples women with the best possibilities were selected in order to pass on what they learned in the workshops to their communities.

With only days away from the 55 th anniversary of the Federation of Cuban Women, major commitment from its members is seen in the production of food helping to replace imports and contributing to savings and efficiency.