Territorial rights of women and revaluation of indigenous and agro ecological food systems of Chaco Cruceño in Bolivia

Abstract

The push to agro-business in Bolivia over the last decade is pressing traditional forms of food
production and consumption, mainly managed by peasant and indigenous women. The article
focuses on the multiple activities carried out by women from tree rural communities in Cabezas
Municipality, to analyze institutional configurations that make possible territorial tenure and
challenges in food sustainability, as opposed to the pressures of the food system Agro industrial,
in the Chaco cruceño of Bolivia, a region characterized by its high climatic vulnerability.
Between 2015 and 2016, we applied 16 interviews with a trans-disciplinary focus, in order to
approach the territorial dynamics. The results show that the territorial rights of women depend
mainly on social recognition and customary mechanisms built in their communities; despite the
persistence of legal uncertainty, women apply their territorial rights with the diversity of activities
developed by peasant and indigenous women towards the economy of care. This study
provides clues about the women’s purposefully dynamics, as responses to economic, environmental,
socio-cultural crises that are widely developed with agribusiness.