La Microempresa Agropecuaria Familiar Como Modelo Para Incrementar Los Ingresos Económicos, Autonomía Y Empoderamiento De Las Mujeres

The objective of this study was to determine the incidence of the generation of rural micro-enterprises run by women from the Turupamba community (Quingeo parish-Azuay province) on the family income, economic autonomy and self-steem of the women. The current situation of 30 micro-entrepreneurs was studied by collecting primary and secondary information.Changes in livestock inventory, monthly rent and effective contribution of the micro-enterprise to the family income and quantitative economic parameters were statistically analyzed using Student's t-test at the 1% and 5% significance level. We also looked at qualitative aspects that were analyzed according to their percentage representation with reference to the total population studied.Results showed that the creation of agricultural micro-enterprises in rural areas by women is a valid alternative to improve their self-esteem, economic autonomy, access and control of family resources and income. Monthly family income was increased from 0.00 to 25,5 USD, livestock inventory increased from 13.9 to 56.1 animal units, while profits derived from the microenterprise increased from 8.2 to 43.4 USD.We conclude that generating agricultural micro-enterprises at a small scale is a way to generate income and improve the self-steem and economic autonomy of women in rural areas. Nonetheless, the income generated by these micro-enterprises is still significantly lower than the income generated by men in the same settings. Reducing the income gap between women and men is of crucial importance for building equitable societies.