The challenge of gender equity in coffee cooperatives

Abstract

Cooperativism is a movement which ideology is based on principles, values and standards of behavior that regulate and guide the relations of cooperative members. Within this movement in Cuba, it has been witnessing processes that seek to incorporate the gender perspective in its actions, understanding that the approach to gender equity, from cooperatives, is an important link, considering that the values and principles governing cooperativism are aligned with the search for a more egalitarian society for women and men. In the spirit of advancing towards gender equity, the research aims to expose a diagnosis of gender gaps present in the coffee cooperative productive process in the municipality of Tercer Frente, Santiago de Cuba. The research is conducted from the methodological point of view, from the use of quantitative and participatory qualitative techniques that allowed revealing the gender gaps in the meanings of the actions of the coffee cooperative members from the gender roles and, on the other hand, the structuring aspects of the movement in terms of gender equity are extracted, leading to propose a set of good practices that allow achieving the sustainability of the coffee cooperative sector, placing men and women cooperative members in a unique political, economic, social and cultural context.