ABSTRACT
Indigenous women have been largely acknowledged for their contribution to biodiversity conservation and small agriculture. However, they still seem to be playing a secondary role in agriculture across Latin America, facing, for instance, limited land entitlement and scarce access to government support for agricultural inputs; such neglect seems to be related to deeply rooted cosmologies. By referring to research carried out across Latin America, this chapter aims to illustrate how the role of indigenous women in agriculture is in fact embedded in traditional agriculture, local forms of social organization, and world views. First, I address the interrelations between traditional agriculture and gendered labor, knowledge, and property relations, and how such interrelations underline decision making in land-use systems. Then, I provide an overview of the gender bias that for long, has prevented indigenous women from being actually supported in research, development initiatives and policies concerning agriculture. While the focus is in Latin America, many of these issues certainly apply to other regions of the world.
