UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — While conducting research on cacao farms in his native country of Colombia last year, Daniel Guarín-Estrada observed significant differences in how women farmers were treated compared to their male counterparts.
“Women do most of the work on the farm, but they have serious disadvantages,” said the doctoral candidate in soil science in Penn State’s College Agricultural Sciences. “Most women in cacao farming have no access to financial resources, nor do they own the land. They also are less educated and have limited access to extension and soil education to improve their crops and prevent soil erosion or pollution.”
Guarín-Estrada said he wants to use his natural science background to “help narrow the gender gap and help women in conditions of disadvantage.” One way for him to do that, he contends, is through his experiences as a member of the Gender Fellows Cohort, which began last fall under the auspices of the college’s Gender Equity through Agricultural Research and Education (GEARE) initiative.
The student cohort examines gender equity in rural sociology, soil science, plant science and entomology as part of the International Agriculture and Development (INTAD) dual-title graduate degree program, explained Paige Castellanos, director of GEARE.
“This cohort is contributing valuable insights into how to improve the lives of women around the world by supporting their participation in agriculture,” she said. “The students’ blended disciplines and experiences will result in actionable solutions to gender inequality.”
In addition to Guarín-Estrada, the core cohort students are rural sociology graduate students Alfredo Reyes, Megan Griffin and Hazel Velasco, and soil science graduate student Jhony Benavides. Together, they contribute to GEARE’s research portfolio, which includes recent and ongoing U.S. Agency for International Development-funded research on gender and agriculture in Honduras, Cambodia and Ghana.
The Gender Fellows also are examining the participation of men and women in global food systems, a focus of the USAID 2018 Feed the Future Learning Agenda's Gender and Women's Empowerment program, said Leif Jensen, distinguished professor of rural sociology and demography.
For example, Reyes has been working on a project that uses a gendered economy perspective to understand and promote women's participation in the horticulture value chain in western Honduras. Specifically, Reyes has been looking at the time-use differences between female and male producers.
Griffin, who also is pursuing a doctorate in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies, is a research assistant on a pilot study on women employed in packing plants in the mushroom industry. Additionally, she co-authored a book chapter, “Gender and Precarious Work in Agriculture,” for the Routledge Handbook of Gender and Agriculture.