The performance and contribution of women in the cultural activities of cocoa production: governance, good practices and impact on family conditions

Abstract

Organizations such as FAO and the UN mention that women's work in the agricultural sector represents, in some cases, 27, 30 or 50%, who support their husbands or partners, taking into account that in most of the plantations these are already close to 80 years old, which prevents them from doing the work in an orderly manner. Such is the case of cocoa plantations, where, as evidenced here, women cocoa growers are mistreated, pressured and their rights are violated; their work is not recognized, as they do not receive any economic compensation for it; and they are not attended to by any private or public organization in matters
such as their health and/or the defense of their rights. The situation is so serious that in 90% of countries such as Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Indonesia, Brazil, Ecuador and Venezuela, women who were educated in cocoa plantation areas, who learned from their parents and grandparents, are still there, that is, they have not had opportunities, especially at the educational level; which causes them to marry or join their lives with other workers in the area only to have the right to social recognition, but not economic, because in most cases their work is invisible and only the work of men is quantified and qualified.