Value-added agriculture: a context for the empowermentof French women farmers?

While women’s contributions to French agricultureare increasingly recognized, less clear is whether increasing vis-ibility translates into empowerment opportunities. Using qualita-tive data drawn from interviews with French value-addedfarmers with diverse life experiences and trajectories, we exam-ine how women have been able to achieve empowerment and theways in which value-added agriculture specifically fosters anempowering context. We adopt a conceptualization of empow-erment from the development scholarship in order to establish abaseline for scrutiny, viewing empowerment as a multidimen-sional process constituting theBpower to^realize one’sgoals,the opportunity to exerciseBpower with^others and the ability tofind and nurtureBpower within^theself.Thefindingsofthisstudy indicate that through the performance of value-added agri-culture, women were able to engage in the process of empower-ment. They were able to exercise authority in the daily manage-ment of their farm operation, explore and define their ownmethods of work, to express creativity, satisfy needs for socialties and build a professional identity. However, our results alsosuggest the persistence of patriarchal and agrarian ideology,undermining the empowerment process. We conclude bydiscussing the context of empowerment which might mediatethis experience for women farmers.