Women smallholders build an agroecology food system: the construction of empowerment and food sovereignty

Abstract 

We investigate how a group of women smallholder farmers built a food system alongside the industrial and the corporate-state-led global agri-food system. The paper shows how the adoption of agroecological practices makes possible the creation of a parallel food system, modifying gender relations, and increasing autonomy and food sovereignty. Thereby, agroecology creates an environment prioritizing an economy of household and social reproduction. We urge policies to recognize systemic inequalities and power within industrial food systems, and their inability to address rural food security. Supporting community well-being, agroecology offers a sustainable solution for rural food security.