The feminine protagonism in the family farming of the Southern Forest Zone of Pernambuco State: “Mary” and her trajectory

Abstract

The Southern Forest Zone of Pernambuco State, a sugarcane region and surrounded by landowners,
has undergone transformations with the insertion of family farming in local settlements
that incorporate a perspective of agricultural production based on economic, social
and environmental development. This way, a greater autonomy of the families is evidenced,
especially women, but without essentially representing more equality between genders. There
are still significant cultural barriers that hinder the full process of female empowerment. This
work, qualitative and descriptive, aims to present the life trajectory of a woman, leadership and
reference in family farming in Amaraji’s settlement, municipality of Rio Formoso in Pernambuco
State. From the life trajectory of her, issues such as the construction of gender through
insertion in family agriculture are problematized; In Agroecology and search for autonomy,
empowerment before the family, especially the husband, and the community.