• 
1, 
----.. _----- '-
• 
t 
P' 
7~7~'.  "'rc vl.l RJ.ce Fa~:tng and Wo~en Co1ombl.a 
Ell.zabeth deG. R. Hansen 
Post Doctoral Fellow 
'1,  IFDC/CIAT Phosphorus Projeet 
,L.. J I :~:::,J  1_ 'I OT't:-.. CA 
,¡-qg" 
\ J ..... ¡ 
Dlscuss:ton papar prepared for the Women 1n Rlce Farmlng 
Systems Conference i 26-30 Sept~mberl 1983. Internatlonal 
Rlce Research lnst:ttute, Los Banosl Laguna, Phlllpplnes. 
ABSTPJ\CT 
The papar descrlbes tho uneven ways tech~ologlcal change 
lU commerclal rice farm1ng can affect women t,·o rlce 
produclng reg10ns of Colomb1a. The emphaS1S 15 on wo~enls 
work 8nd on the farn1ly health problem5 assoclated wlth 
the pestlclde use of co~~erclal farmlng. In splte of 
reg10nal d1fferences) commerclal farm1ng appears to have 
benefltted the Wlves of r1ce farmers. But lt has not 
lmproved the opportun1tles for the ma]Orlty of women 
:a who work ln low pay1ng posltlons ln the servlce sector 
I or ln agr1culture. 
I • 
J 
f 
Several stud:Les nolo' ex1.st that cnallenge che assun,pt:Lon that 
,.. agricultural dave10pment 1.nereases eauall.ty betwcen the se).es and 
i 
:Lmproves rha welfare of "O:'1en í.Boserup. 1970, Bossen, 1975, Safa, 
1977. Tl.11y and Seott, 1978). Colombla, where r:Lce l.S the Green 
Revolut:Lon crop. providas yet anothar e>ampla of the uneven ways 
that agr1.cultural technology roay affaet the ll.ves of women. Thl.s 
papar w1.l1 d1.sCUSS rl.ce product1.o~ in the Departmcnt of Meta 1.n the 
context of the modernizat1.on of the l.ndustry as a whole 1.n Colombl.a 
(Fl.gure 1). lt w1.1l d1.sCUSS the quest1.ons ra1.sed by thl.s conference 
on the role of WO'llen 1.n r1.ce farl'l1.ng 1.n Heta, the affects of new 
technology on womenls employment, the aval.1abl.11.ty of naw tachnology 
to women, and the role of women l.n genarat1.ng and transferrl.ng tech-
.1 
nology. lt w:Lll also ral.se questl.ons on the l.ndl.rect consequences 
1-
and fam~ly health compll.cat:Lons assocl.ated w~th r1C~ farml.ng. 
For Heta, the paper w:Lll show that l.n contrast to other rl.ce 
growl.ng regl.ons of Colomb:La, new technology--irrigatl.on, mechanLza­
tl.on and h1gh yield varl.et1es--has not dLrectly affected women's 
welfal:'e. If the dl.rect effects on women are at best neutral, the 
l.ndiroct consequences need to be consl.dered from a broad perspect~ve 
that does not consl.der women as kndivl.duated or separated from the 
faml.l1.os l.n whl.ch they ll.ve, er the secio-economl.c strata to whl.ch 
they and theLr faml.ll.es belong. lt 1S algo l.rnportant to th:Lnk of 
heuseholds as embedded 1.n, adapt:Lve to and reflectl.ve of regl.onal 
develop~ent processca. le LS appropr1ate ehen, to begl.n wl.th a br1.ef 
rev~ew of the moCiernl.¿:at1.on oí r1.cc fa", ,lng :1.11 COIOl:lDlR, snd 1.ts 
development l.n the Llanos Or1.entales. 
HISTO~IC4L C01ITEXT 
The dl.vl.sl.on between capitall.st and peasant farml.ng 1.n Latl.n 
America ha~ be en pOl.nted to by several anall.sts and Colomb1.s's 
GreenRevolutl.on l.n r1.ce has rec61.ved specJ.al attentl.on l.n thl.S re­
gard (de Janvry, 1981, Leurquln. 1967, Scobl.e and Posada, 19771 lICA, 
1981). Essentl.al1y, tne modernl.zatl.on oí rice farming 1.n thl.s country 
cons1.sted of replaCl.ng an unmechanl.zed, upland--ral.nfed--system, 
planted largely by sroall farmers USl.ng faml.ly labor, by a mechanl.zed 
and l.rrl.gated systern of production planted by large, cornmercl.al far­
mers USl.ng hl.red labor. The post war pol1.cy of l.mport ~bstl.tution 
l.ndu~trl.all.zatl.on favored the agrl.cultural product1.on of l.ndustr1.al 
l.nputs, cotton, sesams and r4ce, the lattar as a wage good. lrrkga­
tkon and mechanizat1.on wer6 l.ntroduced to TolL~ and FUl.la l.n the 
1940 1 5 and to Beta in the 1950 1 5. Thl.rty years later, hl.gh yl.eld 
varl.etl.es were developed. 
Spectacular l.ncreaSes in rl.ce productl.on were due to a SUl.~gene­
~ collaboratl.ve agreement between the Instl.tuto Colombiano de 
Agropecuarl.a (ICA), the Rice Growerls Federat1.on (FCDEARBOZ) and 
CIAT (Centro InternaCl.onal de Agrl.cultyra Tropical) to produce 
hlSh yield seed varl.et1.6S, te saleet teehnologl.es and to develop 
trSl.nkng programs l.n approprl.ste cultl.vatl.on practl.ces (lICA, 1981, 
IV.54, 111 12), The Ley 5a of 1973 was passed in order te develOp 
the institutl.onal framework necessary to ensure the eff~ctive dell.very 
of the new teehnology by ll.nking technieal standards of product1.on 
Hansen-3 
to agrl.cu1tura1 credLt from t:h€l PC'p40 f"y,ap ""r0 I rropeC"t'¿~l.O (~­
the ColombLan AgrLcultura1 Credit Func.). 
By 1975, ScobLe and Posada were abla to atate that the posl.tl.ve 
benafLts of techno10gl.cll.l change a11 accruea to consumers, IJwl.th the 
lowest l.ncome househo1ds recel.vl.ng the 1argast gaLn, absolutely and 
relatl.velyll (1977 78). Thl.S was consonant Wl.th the c:ounty' s l.ndustrl.a-
11.zation polLey, Ilnd they concluded that as a llwage good, rLce repre­
sentad a dampenl.ng effect on the rLse of industrLa1 wages" (1977 3 J.,). 
Tha negatLve effects on the up1and sector became rapl.d1y apparent, 
however. The sma11 farros that produced 50% of the country's rLce 
under upland condLt:l.OnS l.n 1966 were dLsplaced wLthLn the decada by 
the prl.ce dec1l.nes HhLCh fol1owed the Lncreased productJ.on and econo:lll.es 
of sca1e brought about by J.rrLgatLon, mechanLzatJ.on and 1ater HiVs 
(ScobJ.e and Posada, 1977. lICA, 1981. 1 17). What th~s meant for 
women we sha11 exam~ne J.n the next sect~on. 
In Meta, wnLch was to become C010mbLa 1 s second most Lmpertant 
rLce producLng regJ.on, the transJ.t~on from the upland rice s.rstero to 
an ~rr~gatod and mechan~zed system ~arallalled that of the rast of the 
country. Up1and rice, characterl.stLc of p~oneer frontJ.ers, as wel1 
as of the central regJ.ons of COlombJ.a, had been plantad sJ.nce the turn 
of the centJry ~n Meta. In the P~edmont, J.t was pr~marily a "cl.vl.l~­
z~ng crop" usad to replacs trop~ca1 forest wJ.th pastura. Natl.ve varJ.a­
t~es, such as rexora, ~a1vatucasa and mono laya were planted a chuzo, 
wLth dJ.ggl.ng stJ.cks, after felling and burnJ.ng the foresto When 
yl.elds began te decline aftar two or threa harvests, corn or yucas, 
and somatJ.IDeS rl.ce, wara l.ntarplantad Wl.th pastura grass. 
Hansen-4 
Unt1l the m1d 1950's, Meta produced on1y 5% of the county's 
r~ce. At that tune, two strong m1gratory currents ~ncreased its 
potent1a1 as a nat10nal r1ca producer peasants and workars running 
away from the social conf1ict knawn as La V101encia carne to Meta as 
p10neers, many of them to the newly foundad INCORA (Co1omb1an Land 
ReforID Institute) co1ony in Granada, and wea1thy r1ce farmers carne 
from To11m8 and HU1la ~n search of cheaper lsnd snd lower costs of 
product10n. For a br1ef period, the exoanS10n of r1ce ~n Meta was 
pr1ffiar11y in unmechanLzed upland productLon. But the colon1zat10n 
program foundered 1n Granada, and most of the pLonears wera bought 
out by second comers, Lnclud1ng pub11c works funct10nar1as, Bogota 
profess10na1s, and other farmers wLth acceBS to machLnery for plantLng 
catton, sesame and corno The frontier, wLth Lts unmechanLzed up1and 
rLce farmLng moved further south and irrLgated r1ce replaced upland 
rLce. especLally after the LntroductLon of HYVs (LeurquLn, 1967; 
• MOlano, 1981, Leal et al, 1974, lICA, 1981. Sea F~gure 11). 
BegLnnLng ~n 1979, however, there W8S a spectacular resurgence 
of up1and--ra1nfed--r1ce Ln Mata, but now the upland system was mech­
snLzed snd favored by the credLt and techno1ogy facLILtLes of the 
Ley 5a (Tabla 1). Three factors caused th~s resurgence the deve1op­
ment of an ~rrLgated varLety. CICA-B, that could be planted under 
rSLnfed condLt~ons on alluv~a1 sOL18 Bt lower costs and equal--some­
tLmeS hLgher--YLelds (Jenn~ngs et al, 1981, MartLnez, 1982), the 
dec1Lne of markets for corn snd cotton WhLCh had been plantea on the 
s11UV1al 80115 now gLven OVer to upland rLce, and the need to launder 
moneys obtaLncd from the productLon of coca and coca~ne O~ p~oneer 
agr~cultural frontiers on the border between Meta, Caqueta and Vaupes. 
Hansen-5 
R~ca ~s not a small farmer crop. At the t~me oí the last 
agr~cultural cenSust 1973~ 40% of the farros in the P~edmont were 
below 20 hectares, and there ~s localkZed ev~dence of ~ncraased 
m~n~fundkZat~on dur~ng the course oi the decade (DNP~ 1980, CECORA. 
• 1980. lCA, 1982). R~ce ~s rara1y planted on such sma11 farms. most 
of wh~ch cluster on the unmechanizeable footh~lls of the Andes, Around 
V~llav~cenc~e, these farms are for the mest pare deuble purpose meat 
and m~lk product10n systems based on Cr101lo/Cebu hards w1th sorne 
cross1ng w~th Brown Sw1SS, brach1ar~a dacumbens pasturas. and fam~lv 
labor. 
On tha flae lands where r1ce ~s planted, a 1981 survey by f2DE­
ARROZ showed that although 28.3% oí the r~ce plots ware under 20 hec-
tares, these plots cevered only 4.6% of the area planted ~n r~ce. 
F~fty two po~nt f1ve percant of the plots 1n r~ce Were between 21 and 
100 hect8res. cever1ng 39k of the area, and 19.2% of the plots were 
over 100 hectares. cover1ng 56.5% of the area 1n r~ce. In add~tion, 
over 60% Di the area planted ~n r1ce is rentad frorn ranchers, rent1er 
landlorOs or farmers who are too peor to plartt crops (Fedearroz, 1981, 
2 
1981a, Bansen. 1983). 
The 1ntroduct1on of CICA-B, a h~h y~eld, relat1vely low cost 
var1ety that could be planted w~thout ~rr~at1on on alluv1al s011s 
resulted in a graat deal of soc1al mob111ty. Dur1ng 4 years CICA-8 
was planted almost axclus1vely. Wh~le 1rr~ated r1ce farmers d1ver­
S1f1ed theLr hold~ngs w~th plots oi upland r1ce and ranchers began to 
use r1ce ~nstead of corn to prepare or renew pasturas. tha aVB1lab111ty 
oí rnuch land for rental breught 1n new groups of farmers te r1ce pro­
duction. profess~onals and investors rentad land for r~ce. as d1d 
Hansen-6 
tractor dr~vers and comb~ne Clr~vers .no nad I-orked exclus~vely as 
employee~ before the advent of CICA-ú. F~nally, sorne small farmers, 
who had been excluded by the costs of the crop under irr~gatLon. or 
who had prev~ously planted corn or cotton, began to plant upland rLCe. 
It ~s probable that the large number of small pIots LdentLfLed by 
Fedearroz Ln 1981 are reflectLons of the CICA-8 bonanza among small 
farmers. Up1and r~ce was a "new crop" but the Ley 5a requ~rement 
that al1 crops planted wLth FFAP cred~t must be supervLsed by profes-
sional technLcal ass~stance mada the absence of prLor exper~ence wLth 
the crop unL~porta~t for rr~ny of these [armer/~nvestors. 
That the Lntroduct~on of ClCA-8 allowed sorne re1at]~ely small 
farmers to plant r~ce should not lead us to conclude that th~s tech-
nology began to blur the dLstLnct~on b",tween co'rJllerc~al farmers and 
small--peasant--farmers, Even dur~ng tha peak CICA-8 years the costs 
of the crop were st~ll too hLgh te permLt the poorest groups of 
farmers to plant Lt (Table 2), Moreover. r~ce and LtS rotat~on 
crops of sorghum or cotton are notab1y absent from the Lntegrated 
rural development programs that address the sroal1 farmers oí the 
PLedmont. 
In M~ta, as ~n most of ColombLa, r~ce, LnclucLng the new up1and 
,-
system. ~s a capLtal Ln~tens~ve crop. predom~nantly planted by urban 
~ 
farmers wLth access to capital and technology, as these are provided 
by the market Ltself. Although the Ley 5a techno1ogy delLvery sys-
tem LS meant to be un~forrn for all farmers, Phosphorus Pro]ect research 
on fertilizer choLceS shows that the profess~onal agronomLsts, for 
wh~ch all farmers must pay ~f they are uSing FFAP credLt. deliver theLr 
services d~fferently to farmers of different soclal c1asses. D1stant 
farmers who lLve on theLr farms, and farmers wLth small f1elds are 
Fansen-7 
espec~a11y vulnerable to neglee!: from t:he~r agronorllsts, evcn though 
they are work~ng wlthln the arena oi techniíled, commerclal agrlcul­
ture (Hansen, 1983). 
And when, as ln 1982, the demlse of { varlety cOlncldes with aigh 
costs, natlona1 overprOQUctlon and low prlces, delays ln payment and 
mountlng lnterest rates, the credlt system rapld1y reasserts the dlf­
ferenee between sma11 farmere and capltallzed commarcla1 farmers. The 
instabl1~ty at the edges of commercla1 farmlng becomes apparent, as 
banks forec10se cn 10ans, and refuse to 1end to renters or farmers 
without sufflcant 1and or addltlona1 capl.tal to cover the~r eventual 
losses. The dlvlsion between commerclal farmlng and peasant farmlng 
lS accentuated by these shakeouts. 
COMMERCIAL RICE FARHING AND WOMEN' S WORK AND WELLBEING 
In order to explore some of the lmp1lcat~ons of the commerclall 
peasant farmlng spllt for women, We are fortunate to be able to refer 
f to de Lealls four reglon study on the effects of modern1zat~on l.n 
Co1omblan agrlc~lture on the faml1y structure snd work of wo~en on 
sma11 farms (de Leal, 1980). In a pattern that has been descrlbed for 
other times and places ln the world, thlS work shows how in Colombla. 
lntenslve 1and use laws (1926, 1936, 1955, and 1961), the post war 
1ndustrlal P01lCY, and the V10lence durlng the 1950's generally resul­
ted in the removal of small farm fam1l~es from land they held ln non­
capltall'it tenure forms llke sharecropplng (aparc~ria) and "p1oneer 
rental" (~onato). Although the way the process worked 1tsalf out 
was always reglon speclflc, tha bundllng up of excluslonary rlghts in­
volved 1n the transltion to purely prlvate forms of land te~ure also 
involvad changas in labor use patterns. Thus. where r1ghts to land 
under sharecropping and "pioneer rental" arrangements had l.nv01ved 
\.1¡¡nsen-8 
famlly labor obl~gatl.o'1s. the new pattcrn ..' as accompan~ed by free, 
~ndivldual wage labor by sepdrate fallll.ly me:nbers, But "no worked, 
at what, and w1.th what lntensity dlftered, depcndlng on the region1a 
hlstoryand the famlly's social clags (de Leal aud Deere, 1980. 286). 
What happened ln TollIna, where the new technologies of irrigatlon 
and mechanizatlon were f~st lutroQuced wlll provlde us wlth pOlnt~ 
of entry and contrast for the dlScusslon of the effeets of rlce 
teehnology on women' s welfare 1.11 Meta. Tol~ma I <¡ traditlonal products 
of cattle and to~acco were replacsd by eotton. sorghum, sesame and 
rl.ce. A lendless labor force ... as created on one hand by rS'TIovl.ng 
..., 
sharecroppers and plonears fro~ larga estates, as ln Guamo and Saldana, 
Elsewnere, as ln Esplnal, where estate owners found sub~dlvlslon and 
~ 
i sale the best response to intenslva land use lews, new groups of 
farmars, lndependent paasants, ex-sharecroppers, bureaucrats and 
i 
professlonals began to plant the new ludustrlal crops (de Correa,l980). 
J 
In general, the work of wo~en 0'1 TollIna farms was found to 
provlde a heusehold--and reglonal--labor reserve. The natura and 
lntenSl.ty of wo~en's en-farro and off-farm work depended on house­
hold resources and on the male earning Sltuatlon. Where labor could 
be hlred, lt was, and women performed few agrlcultural tasks, llml-
tlng themselvas to the speclflcally female actlvitles of cooking, 
cleanlng and wash~ng. But as waalth daereased, women provlded the 
necessary seco'1dary lncomas, Where small farm women hed partlclpatad 
ln the sowlng, harvestlng and processlng of upland rlce, thelr crops 
and thelr work were replacad by the greater production of mechan~ed, 
l.rrlgated flelds and 1.ndustrlal processlng mills, At first, small 
farm women bagan taklng jobs as day laborers ln cotton and sesame 
flelds. But ineraaslngly, as wases replaced farming as a main 
source of ~nCOlle for small farmt;, thc pat"t{'rn developed that rr.:m 
worked for part t1ffi6 'V;ages for half th. . ,rear, and WOl1cn for about 
s quarter of the year. The greater the poverty, the gr~ater flex~­
bil~ty developed ~n the dkstrkbut~on between man snd women oi the 
trad~t~onally fem~n~ne act~vit~es of social reproductkon clean~ng, 
¡;¡ 
COOkkng, wash~ng and ch~ld careo 
The seasonal Jobs that women took, often w1th the~r ch~ldren, 
s~nce they were p81d p~ece rates, were dur~ng peak per~ods of th~n­
ning, weeding, snd espec~ally, harvesting cotton. ~era hald~ngs 
ware below 3 hectares, fSM1l1es exportad daughters--bct not mothers, 
because the work of mothers at home could not be foregone--to towns 
l~ke Esp~nal. lbague snd Bogota to work as factory ~~r~ers ~n cotton 
4 
I m:llls, or Clealllng women in ~ndustry and cornmerce, and especUllly 
as domest:lc serva~ts. Thus, the freedorn of WOffi6n to enter the labor 
roarket was related to the pressure of fam~ly poverty. and where new 
• technology d~splaced women from agrlcultural tasks, many were absorbed 
by urban labor needs ln serv~ce. ~ndustry and cornmerce (de Correa, 
O 
1980, de Leal and Deere, 198a, cf. Rubbo and Tauss:lg, 1977). 
l' 
In add~t:lon to changas ~n land tanure and work pattarns, cornmer-
c~al agr~culture brought yet othar consequences for Tol~ma country 
women and the~r fam~l~es that remain lncompletely understood ln their 
long range lmpl~catlons. In 1974, Dr. Marco Hicolta, the director oí 
the Guamo ho'Spital, callad attention to an "ep~dem:l.!::" of spontaneous 
abortlons and premature and ma1formed b:lrths, espec~al1y dur~ng harvest 
per~ods. Tha worklng snd res~dent small farro populat~on clustered 
around tha large f~alds of cotton, sorghum and rlce had ep?are~tly 
been exposed to heavy spraylng with herbicldad basad on the components 
oí Agant Orange, 2,4D and 2,45T. The subsequent invest~gat~ons 
Hunsen-10 
brought to p~IA~C l~ght the dangera oi pest~c~de ~nto~~catLons, the 
confl1ctLng interests surroundLng the Manufacture. sale, export and 
Lrnport and 1icencLng of pestLcLaes, the ha~ful effects of pestLcLdes 
on the male reproductLve aystem and 1ibLdo, and the hLgh rates of 
contamLnatLon of commercLal foods wLth organochlorides such as A1drLn. 
Endrin, DLeldrLn and DDT (Castro CaLcedo 1974a, 1974b, Grupo Lco1ogi­
co del 101Lma, 1977, 1978a, 1978b, 1978c. 1982; and see Lome1L. 1982, 
Weir and ShapLro. 1982). 
The decreas~ng number oi deaths from ~ntoxLcatLons. abort10ns 
and SULtS brought by workers between 1976 and 1981 cOLncLded wLth a 
greater control oi pestLcLde use, and also wLth a declLn6 Ln cotton 
farmLng attrLbuted to the hLgh costs of Lmported pestLcLdes (Gr~po 
EcologLco del Tol~ma, 1981). 
In TOlLrna, then. new techno10gy in rLce. but also--and Lrnportant­
lY--Ln other crops lLke cotton, resultad in an overall process of 
proletar1anLzatLon whLch affected men and women to d~fferent degrees. 
The fam1lLe~ remaLnLng Ln the countrysLde were exposed to health 
hazards of comrnercL81 pest~cLde use, but urban populatlons are also 
at rLsk through the res~dues Ln the foods they buyo 
In Heta, the same technology oi comilercLal rLce fartnLng had some~ 
what dLfferent Lmpllcatlons for women's work, wellbelng and fam~ly 
hea1th. Over t~me. three factors seem to account for a much lessar 
degree of proletarLanLzatLon among farm women than in TolLIDa, and 
an apparently very large number of urban working women. F~rst, tle 
semL-frontLer conditLon of the department at the o~set of agrLcultural 
modernlzatLo~ allowed ~t to absorb 11 hLghly moblle and y~~~ mLgrant 
populatLon. Second, the labor savlng and male bias of completaly mech-
Ha'1sen-ll 
an~zed agrl.culture li:lll.tc.d .¡on'en I s wa[,e t'ork to eit l.es. and fl.nally. 
the ernergence of the coca front~('r on tila fr~nges of the Amazon 
Bas~n, in 90uthe::-n Neta, Vaupes I'nd Caqueta, provid€'d young l1'en wl.th 
• a lucrat1.ve optl.on and rell.evad tha pressures on s~~ll farro faml.lias 
that rn1.ght otherv1l.se have pushcd V,omcn out to 100k for wdge work in a 
glutted rnarket. 
Thus, although many ml.grants to Meta establl.shed sroall farms ~n 
the Pl.edmont and ir. Granaaa, by 1980 59% of the population was urban 
(M1.nl.sterl.o de Salud, 1982). In the Pl.edl1¡ont mtmlocl.pall.t1.6s, the 
proportl.on of urban resl.dents reached 75.5%. The vast maJorl.ty of 
r1.ce farroers and the workers they hlre llve l.n towns. When, as durl.ng 
the catton harvests of the 1970's, large contingents of labor were 
nceded, th~se were ~rovl.ded by seasonal workers who came to Vl.llaVkcen­
c~o at hnrvest tl.me. 
Because r~ce snd lots rotat~on crop of sorghum are so hl.ghly rnech­
anlzed there are few jobs avaklable fer wemen are there are ~n the 
commerc¡al crops that are kncempletely meehanl.zed. or depend on tasks 
that cannot be mechankzed, $uch as cotton ¡n Tol~ma, cane ~n Valle 
and flewer5 ¡n Bogeta, In Meta commerc¡al íarml.ng 1.5 an almost exclu­
skYely male domal.n l.U productl.on snd process¡ng, as well as ¡n research 
snd technology transfer. The farmers themselves are almost all meno 
A survey of the knSCr1.ptkons of farmers for cred1t 1n two subregl.ons 
~ 
of the P¡edmont showed that of 172 farmars counted. 16 were women (9,3%). 
frequently ~dentlofked as wl.dows. There are no women among the 97 
members of the rice farmerls cooperat1Ye (COAGROMETA) ana ut fa~er 
meet¡ngs. for example, to d¡scuss support pr1ces, market¡ng or produc-
Hansen-1Z 
tlon costs. th~ one or two ,ow~n pres~nt are barely vl5lble among 
the meno 
There are no women ln tbe flelas. 
A llttle more employment for women 19 provlded by the urban 
lndustrlal side of rlce productlon. Elghteen percent of thc labor 
force of the flve maln agro-lndustrles ln Velllavlcenclo l5 female. 
Women are prlmarlly ln clerlcal ard cleanlng p05ltlons--65% and 
21.8%, re5pectlvely--ln a pattern WhlCh lS probably cornmon to many 
Oolombwn buslnesses (Tables 31"1\-) 
The sama pattern held for the lCA reglonal offlces. lCA 1.S 
charged Wl.th developl.ng and transferrlng agrlcultural technology 
for the reglon and with llcenclng and monltorlng the technlcal aSSlS-
tance provlded by prlvate agronomlsts to rlce farmers. Twenty tbree 
per cent of lOA's labor force lS female, and agaln women prodomlnate 
ln the clerlcsl and cleanlng categorles (57% and 23.8%). There are 
no women ln the rlce program, or in the sOlls programo And there l5 
no woman llsted among the 87 profess~onal agronomLsts lLcenced by 
ti-
lCA (lCA, 1982 14). Of the fLve professlonal wornen ln lCA, one 
/>-
works ln admLnLstratlon, the second i5 a vet, and the thlrd lS a 
b&cterlo1ogLst. The last two work ln the Rural Development Program 
(DRl) as home economlsts, snd are asslsted by flve home-improvement 
semL-professlonals ("Technl.cal asslstants"), ln recently lntroduced 
programs to lncrease the productlVl.ty of very small farms by exten­
dl.ng technology and credlt to the actlvltl3 r that Wlves undertake on 
these farms. chLCken and plg ralSl.ng. 
If we are to trust the training programs aval.lable ro women 10 
the Llanos Pl.edmont, at the Technlcal University of the Llanos Orl-
entale~, snd tho Government ApprentLceshLp Servl.ce. SENA, the 
Hdusen-J.3 
the number of women kn r1ce lelatea act1Vlt1e~ ib not lD,ely to 
change 1n the ~mmedll!l.te futura. F1gure 3 shows lilat the largely 
middle lneoms '\%men 'i'no enter the Un1versktj" prefer to enroll :Ln, 
snd are mor~ successful in completlng the trslnlng for the traditlo­
nally femlnlne teachlng aud nurs1~g f1elds. In SER~. 58% of the 
students are enrolled ln courses that trakn the~ for urban work 
62% of the students are women, preparl~ for Jobs ln accountkng, 
typkng snd dressmaking. The two agr1cultural centers on the outSKlrtS 
of VkllaV1cenC10 snd Granada tra1n young men from small farms for 
employrnent ln commerckal agrkculture sud rdnehlP~, wkth an emphasls 
on tractor drkv1ng aud repalr and general mechanlcal Skllls. In 
the rural courses only 6.4% oi the students are women, and the 
tra~nlng sector for women LS llmlted to the small farm sector wlth 
occasLonal on-farm demonstrat1ons on lmproved ch1cken and pLg raL­
Sl.ng and vegetable gardenLng I S t:= rJ 1'\. [q G' j') 
The only job Ln rlce that women are speclflcally sought for LS 
that of cook, and the d1strl.butkon of th1S se~l.-clo~estl.c actlvLty 
reveal~ sorne of the meanlng of commerclal fsrrnlng for women of 
dlfferant classes. Women are hl.red to cook for the work crews on 
lrrlgated farms. If the woman lS marrled, a posltlon must be found 
for her husband as well. She wlll cook three meals a day and charge 
a dally flat fee par worker. When the farmar pays the 1rr1gatl.On 
chl.ef, who ha~ contracted the worker~. thelr meal bills are deducted 
and glven to the cook or to her husband. The pos1tkon of cook LS un-
stable, beca use money can only be made at perl.oda of peak labor demando 
durkbg the preparat10n of the flelds and durlng the har\e~t. 
Among upland r1ce farmers, cOOklng far workers LS done free by 
the WLves of farmers who llve on the farm. These women do not work in 
Hansen-14 
the r~ce f:l.elds. They cook en wood stov~s, do ldundry 1n r1vers, 
reps1r clothes errd care for the1r ch~ldrcn and husbanos. Where 
ferms are 8mall eneugh end close enou¡:;h, w~ves may run a small busi­
ness out of the~r home~, sel11P~ soda, beer, cigarattes, soap end 
somet1mes m1lk. On farm wory 1ncludes the care oi small an1maIs end 
oecas10nally, m11k1ng cows. Where labor 1S scarce, or cannot be 
afforded, WLves end the1r ch11dren w111 part1c1pate 1n plant1ng, 
weed1ng snd harvest1P~ yueca or plants1n. In two except10rral cases, 
one w1fe werked n1ghts w1th har tractor dr1v1ng husband prepar1ng 
and l1m1ng th<il.r r1ce f 1eId, errd another shared the rr..¡;nagcrrent--appl:t­
cat10ns fer cred1t, d1Scuss10ns w1th agronom1st, purchase of 1UPUts-­
w1th her s1ck husband. 
But where the upland r1ce fa~er lives 1n town, the w1fe of en 
adm1n1strator, or another regular worker LS h1red te cook for the 
occasl.onal workers needed to fert11lze or chop weeds, and for the 
harvest crews, The W1ves of upland r1ce farmers and Lrr:tgated r1C~ 
• 
farmer~ who l1ve 1n town are rarely 1nvolved l.n far9Lng. Those 
who are, as wlth account1ng help or -hOpp1ng for 1nputs, are seen 
as except10nally as are the on-farm Wlves who work 1n r1ce. Table 
4 shows the d1strlbut10n of COOk1ng for workers and other r1ce 
related act1v1tles among the W1ves of 33 upland rlce farmers lnter­
v1ewed 1U 1982. Interestlngly, two of the women ln thlS grcup were 
l1sted as the farmers rece1v1ng cred1t for rlce cultlvatlon. In 
fact, nel.ther partlc1pated 1n rice farm1ng. Tha husband of one 
oversaw the plant1ng of h1S rentad fleId, snd the male partner of the 
second farmed the woman's Iand 1n en arrangernent by Wh1Ch she con­
trlbuted the Iand snd he the management. They shared costs and 
profLts. 
Hanson-15 
Table 4 also shows that ln thlS sample, most of the Wlves do 
not have employment outslde of thelr hornes. They are housewlves, 
but the cooklng, chl1dcare and housec1eanlng 19 done for the mest 
part by hlred servants. In no case hava 1 heard of a domestlc ser­
vant who lS the daughter of an upland rlce farmer. Rather, do~StlC 
servants, who are a11 bel16ved to be of local rural Orlglns, seem to 
come from the non-cornmerclal farrnlng sector, from the srr~ll farms 
of tha Pledmont, or from cattle ranches deep lU the Llanos. 
There are no comprehenslve statlstlcs by SeX on the labor force 
10 Meta .mlch Wa can use to place these data lU perspectlve. We ~Jst 
depend on the estlmates of SER4LDC, the natlonal employment servlce, 
and those of the Bank of fhe Rl'p.,bi" Accordl.ng to Sr:"1.t¡LDr:, unemployment 
ln Vlllavlcenclo lS estl~eted at bctween 10 ta 12% of the ecano~lcally 
sctlve populatlon. There are uo est1mates of tne Sl~e of thlS popu-
latlon ln Vlllavlcenclo, but for Meta as a whale lt ls thought to 
be about 35% of the populahon (SENALDE. 1983. N1eto et al, 1978). 
Accordlng to SENALDE, WhlCh places men and women ln Job~ in V111a-
VlcenC10, tne supply of women and th~ demand for women lS greater than 
that for men 65 % of Job appllcants are women and 57% of employers 
are looklng for women. Mast of the applicants of elther sex are 
unquallfled workers, and about 60% of the posltlons avallable are for 
unquallf1ed labor. Of the three categor1es of Jobs that SENALDr fllls, 
offl-ce work, com~rce and sales, snd services. the category of offlce 
work lS the only one ln wnlch the de~nd for male workers 15 greater 
than for women, by 13%. The de~nd for women ln COTh~erce and sales 
lS 20% above that for men, and 75~ aboye that for men ln the service 
category, whl.ch lncludes positlons as a SSlstant C001{S, wSltresses and 
offlce clean1ng women (SENALDE, 1983). 
E:l13L 10TECA 
Hansen-16 
These proport~ons do not ~nclude agr~cultural workers, or the 
large trans~ent populat~on of men work~ng in the petrol fLS1ds, or 
the vLsLbly large numbers of self emp10yed women who se11 cooked food 
on the street, or those who work in domest~c servLce. but they do 
Lnd~cate c1early the hLgh degree of urban proletar~an~zatLon among 
women. and the 10w pay~ng nature of the pos~t~ons ava~lable to tnem. 
Th~s ~s the perspectLve fro~ wh~ch to VLew the s~tuat~on of 
the w~ves of r~ce farmers. and al so women work~~ ~n rLCe related 
Lndustr~eS They compr~se a most privLledged mLnor~ty and an urbano 
fe~~n~ne representatLon of one s~de of agrLcultural dualLsm. Con­
s~dered alone, the~r SLtuat~on lends general support to the observa­
tLons that wo~enls d~sta~ce from productlvc work Lncreases w~th house­
hold wealth, and toat the maLn benefLts to women froro co~~erclal agrl­
culture stem from the husbands lncreased earnlngs. ln tne case of 
farmers' W1VeS, and from the ~ncreased demand for goods and servLces, 
~n the cases of urban women who rrust work for wages (de Leal and 
Deere. 1980 276). 
However, the benef~ts accrulng to women as a result of increased 
male lnco~eS must be cons~dered ~n the context of the total employment 
prov~ded by co~~erc~al agrLculture. Accord~ng to the Bs~~ of the 
Republ~c. ~n 1980 agrLculture and ranch~ng employed a relatlvely 
sma11 proport~on of "1eta l s populatLon 13%, as opposed to 43% ln 
commerce snd servLces, 97. and 7% respectlvely ln manufactur~ng and 
• 
constructLon, and 28% ln "other," "~nformal" act~vltles (Banco de la 
RepublLca, 1981 60-61). 
The latter fLgure ~s the offlc~al estlmate of the prcport1on oi 
the popu1atLon employed ln the productlon and d~strLbut~on of coca snd 
cocalne. It ~s probable, than, that coca product~o~ has brought 
. ~ '" ~"".",~,.. 
Hansen-17 
more wealth to the P~edmont and ~ore demand for the goods and 
servlces that absorb urban womenls work than has ~ew technology 
ln eom~erclal rlce farmlng. Vl~lts to the 5mall dalry farms ln 
the Piedmont t WhlCh are managed by women and ehildren because the 
men have gone to work ln tho coca flelds (11 se fueran para abaJo") 
also suggest that the earnlng opportunltle5 that coca provlded for 
men fro~ 5mall farms has delayed the proletarlsnizstlon of women 
from sueh small farms. 
FlnallYt whatever the beneflts to urban women brought by the 
cocalne econony, the rural fsmlly healtn lssues assoclated wlth the 
pestlclde use of commerclal rlce farmlng have become more compleA • 
In addltlon to the d.¡¡ngers of pestlcl.de pOlsonlng and potentlal 
reproductlve damage, we also necd to conslder tne rlslP~ rates of 
lnfectl.on wlth malarla. As ln Toll.ma, whole hamlets ln ~feta have 
been fumlgated, streams pOlsoned, blrds, fl~h and farro anlmals kllled. 
• The dlstrl.butlOl1 of populatlon, crop~ and Jobs suggest tha spraylng 
l~ les~ lntenSl.ve, the populatlon denslty less and the ?opulatLon 
at rlsk lS predo~Lnantly maleo Nonetheless, an lCA study of aereal 
pestLclde appllcatlon found that all the safety a~d environmental 
were regularly 19nored (Brlnez, 1980). Humans haYa baen serlously 
lntohlcated, especlSlly wlth organophosphatas, and doctors in Vllla-
v1cenclo have also notad that women are dellverlng more malformed 
bables. 
The magnltude of the problem 15 almost imposslble to gauge be-
cause of under reportll1S, and dlsperse, lrregular and unfocused record 
keep1ng • Thus, thut the lncldence of malformed blrths ln~reased 
I..rlt~ "fh" 17$"1 ,..nd r7'!:;¿. 
from 10 to 40\ ín-the Vülavlcenc10 Reg10nal Hospltal lS a vl.rtually 
A 
useless datu~ l[ the reglstry forms from wnlch lt 1S constructed do 
Hansen~18 
not ~nclude fam~ly occupat~onal hea1th h~stor~es as we11 as the 
woman'g pregnancy h~stoIY (lI,:rfd,1 Kp'jIl'Yl''¡ de fl,lk I/lU'Flé<1-3 Ift1) 
The s~tuat1on ~s somewhat clearar wLth ragard to malarLa.. Ir 
has been shown that the use of ~nsectLc1des in commerciál agr1cultura 
~-espec1ally in cotton, but also 1n r~ce--has contr1buted to the 
resurgence of malar~a ~n many parts of the world (Dezow1tz, 1981 50-
51, Pant and Gratz, nd, Chap1n and Wasserstrom, 1981, Bul1, 1983). 
In Colomh1a, the ~nc1dence of ma1ar1a tr1p1ad dur~ng the 1970's 
and almost doubled 1n the Department of lleta (Table 5). Tha 1ncrea5es 
1n the P1e~~ont mun~c1pal1t1es are, Ln many cases, dramatLC. 
lt does not appear that the 1nsect1cLdes usad 1n co~~erc1a1 
rLce farm~ng are responsLb1e for the Lncrease. ThLS 15 because the 
most nlli~erous and troublesome anopheles mosquito of the PLedmont, 
tu. Abo2ha, res1stant to DDT, 15 a poor vector for malarLa pIasmod18. 
ano Darll~l, Wh1Ch LS responsLble for most malarLa Lnfectlons, and 
fl OC 
• lS resLstant to DDT, 1$ a shy forast mosqulto, whose popu1atLon 
A 
expands durLng the earIy. frantLer. stages of ChOpplng, burnlng and 
sett1Lng 1n the mOlst troplcal forests south of Meta. In the coca 
plantl.ng area of Nu-af1ores, over 20% oí the larvae fcund by the 
Ma1arla Erradlcat:Lon Serv1ce (SE}!) III 1982 were lUl. Darl¡n<?;.!, whereas 
1n the Pledmont theLr count: was we11 below 10% (Sé /n, ¡'fe,,"'). 
The h~h rates of 1nfectLon ~n the Neta Pledmont should not be 
1nterpreted as resultLng from the pest1clde technology requ1red by 
h~h yLeld varletles they are rather reflectLons of the h~h rates 
of m~ratlon between the PLedmont and the frontler coca produclng 
r~g1on. These rates of mlgrat~on, however, can r~asonab1y oe undcr-
stood as adaptatlons to the low employment offered to men by commerc181 
r1ce productlon and ranchlng. 
Hansen~19 
CO¡ICLUS!O¡IS 
Th1S paper 1~ a contrlbut10n to the llterature that shows 
that r~glonal development patterns affect women's work and welfare 
ln dlfferent ways regardless of the s1ffiilarlty of the agrlcultural 
technology ln use, It has emphaslsed women's employrnent and faml1y 
health lssues, In Tollrra, women frem the sruall farro sector were 
pushed out to work for part tlme wages ln agrlculture, whereas ln 
Meta, farro women do not work for agrlcultural wages, The urban 
labor force, however, 15 predo~lnantly female. ~ve~ the health 
lS9ues assoClated wlth the technology of produclng commerclal crops 
assume dlfferent casts ln each reglon. The especlally frag~entary 
understandlng we have of the effects of pestlcldes on reproouctlve 
rralfunctlons argues for tne lmportance of long term, epldemlologl­
cal research on th19 personally and polltlcally sensltlve lssue. 
• But there are overarchlP~ s 1ffillarltles , Wlthln the comnerclal 
rlce farnlng Sector the opportunltles for women are very llffilted 
and the boneflts seems to have been captured by the \VlVeS of Heta /I"e 
.(armers. Over all, most \<lomen ln both reglons are cnncentrated ln 
low paylng posltlons ln co~~erce and servlces, and ln Tellma, ln 
agrlculture, ThlS seems te be a consequence ef tha very growth of 
comm~rclal agrlculture aud ltS llmlted employment oppertunltles, 
The polltlcal and econO~lC power underlY1ne thlS type of agrlculutral 
develop~ent do not auger an lffiprovement ln the opportunltles for 
women. 
In ClOSlng, en exampla from Tollma lS lnstructlve l~ it~ ambl-
valent lmpllcatlons. A rlce farmc~, natlonally known for hlS pro-
liansen-20 
greSS:lve agn.cultural pract:lce'3 found that the cost of weed-k:lllers 
wa s ra:lS :lIlg h:ls co st s of product :lon beyond an accepta bIe leval. He 
plantad a seedbed on 7 hectares for transplant:lng to h:lS 200 hectare 
f:lelds. Other farmers were astounded at h:lS deC1S:lOn to h:lre labor 
rathar than to use h~rb:lc:ldes, they assumed the labor costs would 
be Sup~~:lor to the harb:lc:lde blll. In fact, the labor costs were 
about $25.00 less per hectare than the herblC:lde costs. In add:lt:lon, 
sav:lngs on water, seed, fert:lllZer and :lnsectlc:ldes brought h:ls 
total cost~ of product:lon to about $1.000.00 per hectare, :lU contrast 
to the average reglonal costs of productlon of $1.500.00 per hectare. 
He also pO:lnted out that th:lS was a soclally respons:lble technology 
because :lt brought Jobs to a reg:lon of great unemployrnent. Accord:lng 
to hun, dur:lng the f:lrst year he adopted transp1antlng, "even the 
prost:ltute<; fro'11 town" calí'e to work transplant:lng h:ls r:lce, and to 
h:ls surpr:lse, he found hunself W:lth a largely female labor force. 
• He specu1ated on womenls greater ab:ll:lty to bend down w:lthout be:lng 
suscept:lble to bacl, pa:lns. 
Th:ls year. when 1 v:ls:lted h~s f:lelds, there was only one woman 
work~ng among 45 meno The WOl;'lc :lS pa:ld by p:lece rate, and s~nce th:lS 
woman brought her four sons rangLng from 14 to 20 years to work w:lth 
har, she earned a great desl more money than d~d her male co-workers. 
or ~ndeed, her tractor dr~v:lng husband. When 1 ask~d where all the 
other women were who had worked transplantl.ng r:lce on these f:lelds. 
she exp1a:ln~d that most women found th:lS work supremely d:lsagreeable 
because of the heat, the mud, and the bend:lng. They prefe=ed to wory 
l.n the shade, classl.fyLng tobacco, Or :trI \~eed:lng, th:lnn:lng aüe ;:n.ck:ln.g 
cotton. At the t:lme of ~y V:lS:lt cotton was bC:lng harvested by women 
, 
p.ansen-21 
and theLr famLILes. ano by teams oi mLgrant laborers oi both Sexes. 
and al~o by the iirst cotton combLnes Lntroducea to TolLma • 
• 
Hansen-22 
FOOTIlOTES 
1. Th~s paper ,.as wrltten while on a post-doctoral fel1owsh~p 
from the Rockefeller FoundatlOn to work w~th the IFDC/ClAT 
Phosphorus ProJeet on farmer fert~llzcr se1eetion and use ~n 
upIand r~ce. 1 greatfully acknowledge the support 1 have 
recelved from the three 1nst~tutlons. 
2. In Meta rlce 15 grown at 400-450 masI on medlum to low 
terraces and rlver banks. The average temperatura 15 2)0 e, 
ranglng between an average of 310 C 1n the hottest months of 
February and March and 210 e 1n the coldest months oí July 
and August. Ralnfal1 averages 2789 mm, wlth the relny season 
beglnnlng ln Harch. The dry months are Deeember, January atld 
February. The relat1ve humldlty lS hlghest ln JUtle (85%) 
and Iowest ln February (65%) (Owen and Sanehez, 1979, Mart1nez, 
1982). The s011s of the Plcdmont are var~able, character1zed 
as oXlsols beeause of the~r general ac~dlty, h~gh eoneentratJon 
oí 1ron and alurnLnum, and 10w nutrlent content, espeela11y ln 
Phosphorus and Potasslum (Owen and Sanchez, 1979, La1ng et 
al, 1982 46). Piedmont s011s have been e1ass~f1ed aeeord~ng 
to the~r potent1al erop use, and lrrlgated r1ce 15 gro\m 0'1 
the 1ess fert~le, low phosphorus C1ass 111 and sometL~es C1ass 
IV sOlls. Upland rLce LS grown on the far more fert1le Class 
11 50115, on the low vegas, or bottom 1ands along the rlvers 
that cross the P~edmont. As farmers have abandonad c~tt0n 
productLon, r1ce lS also grown on Class 1 s011s, WhLCh are 
the best soiIs of the Llanos ( Owen and Sanchez, 1979), 
Table 1 Hectaleage 111 11 ngatcd ncc, uplalld flee, corll, eotton and 
, 
sorghum, ¡Ieta 1978-1982 1 
lrngated Upland Corn Cotton Sorghum 
Rl 
1978 
A 32 540 6 267 9 946 
B 10 136 16 884 4 918 
1979 
A 25 480 9 284 4 244 
B 11 766 12 957 9 525 
1980 
1\ 24 218 14 27Jl 5 589 
B 10 995 6 665 9 987 
J981 
f\ 27 942 17 689 2 178 
B 17 022 / 307 31 1 621 10 170 
, 
1982 
• A 41 079 38 825 2 322 
B 13 998 252 343 3 275 16 259 
1983 , 
A 27 701 23 005 2 068 
1 A and B refel to the scmcsters, flom January to July (A) and fron 
August to Decembcr (8) 
Source ICA 
ljansen-23 
Table 2. Cost'l of Production for majar crops of the Pl.edmont, Meta. 
Tl.me to Pesos/ha Dallar/ha 
harve'lt 1982 1982 a 
lrrl.ga ted rl.ce 1 semester 64.964.00 866.00 
Upland rl.ce 1 semester 51.089.00 681.00 
Cotton ( 1981) 1 semester 54.000.00 720.00 
Corn ( unllecha'1ized) 1 se"nester 19.617.00 261. 00 
Corn (mechanl.zed) 1 semester 30.655.00 408.00 
Yucca 3 semesters 15.032.00 b 200.00 
Platano 6 semcsters 21.771. 00 b 290,00 
a- 75 pesos= $US 1.00 
b- calculated by dl.vl.dl.ng establl.shment and ral.ntenance costs 
by semE'sters. 
Sources. Fede3rroz, 1982 
lCA/DRI, 1982 
Banco de la Republl.ca, 1982 
Table 3. 
~ Crnployment oC Men and Women by Calegones ln Publlc a"1d J?nvate Sector Rl.ce-related Actlvlhea 
M E N W O M E N 
I Total. 
Total. Total i Both 
Adrlln Clencal Prof Techn Labor Meo 4.dmln CIen cal Prof Techn Labor Women Sexes 
n O/, n % n % n % c. % n % n % n IJ/Q n % n % n % n O/, n % 
36) 95 (2) 5 (37) 88 (42) 96 (99) 85 (216) 77 (2 ) 5 (36) 95 (5) 12 (2) 4 (18) 15 (63) 23 279 
1-
: 
2) lOO (O) 100 (10) 9! (22) 79 ( 5) ! 00 (39) 86 (O) - ( 3) 100 (1) 9 (6) 21 (a) - (10) 14 49 
ce 1 
0-
15 -
• 50) 99 (6) 14 (19) 95 -' (211)95 (289) 82 (6) 11 (36) 86 (1 ) 5 (O) - ( 12) 5 (55) 18 344 
>t"ll s (88) 92 (8) 10 (66) 901 (64) 89 (31 B) 91 (544) 81 (8) 8 (75) 90 (<&) 10 (8) 11 (30) 9 (128) 19 672 
, 
, 
l\: Prlvate Sector groups Technlclans w1th Labor' 
,.., 
,,¡ 
I 
¡: Table 4. D~st~Lbut~on of pos~t~ons by sex ~n Publ~c and Pr~vate Sector r~ce relate:d 
~ 
tr 
s: 
<Il and agr~cultural technology research and transfer act~v~t~es. 
:r 
MEN WOHEN 
Ad"nn Cler~cal -Praí -Tech Labor A-d-m-~-n Cler~cal Prof Tech Labor 
lCA,. 16.7 .93 40.744.4 39.4 3.2 57.1 7.9 6.4 23 8 
DRr 5.1 0.0 25.6 56.4 12.8 0.0 30.0 10.0 60.0 0.0 
R~ce 
Agro 
Inous-
tries 17.3 4.8 6.6 74.1 10.9 65.5 1.8 0,0 21.8 
TCT/LS 16.2 1.8 12,1 11.8 58,5 6.3 58.6 5.5 6.3 23.4 
Hnnsen-26 
Table 5. Part~c~pat~on of Up1and R~ce Farmers' W~ves ~n 
Rice Product ~on 
C~ty Country 
Aet :Lv~t les Res:Ldence Res:Ldence 
Cook for 
workers 1 15 
Other r~ce 
work 2 3 
No work 
~n r~ce 12 12 
WOrk out 1 
of home 
Total 
W:LveS 14 16 
• 
. -
Pan<;en-27 
Table 6. IndeY of annual cases of malar~a par 1000 ~nhab~tants. 
1970 1975 1980 
Total Colo'Tlb~a 1.2 2.2 3.4 
• 
Total 'leta 3.8 5.0 6.1 
r~edmont ¡'¡t.l1~c~li:al~ties 
Acac~as 3.0 5.3 6.9 
Ca-;t:!.lla 1.7 1.8 7.8 
El Castülo ~ 46.2 
Gua"Oa 1 1.4 .6 3.6 
Restrepo 2 9 1 2 3.3 
Cubarral .4 1.1 7.7 
S. Mart~n 3 8 2.6 4.1 
Fuente de Oro 8.1 3.9 .9 
CU'Tlaral 6.6 5.3 12.0 
~ Granada 2.6 .9 1.0 
Sub-total 3.3 2.5 7.7 
V:1.llav~cenc~o .9 4.0 1.4 
Front~er 
• S • Juan de Ara-na 8.9 4.3 3.9 
V~sta }ler'Tlosa 13.8 28.5 26.9 
Puerto Lleras 33.0 22.9 11.6 
Sub-total 18.0 14.7 14.4 
Bf..'it of Meta 2.8 1.6 3.3 
~ourcf Calculated fro~ populat1on aod casa f~ures prov~ded by 
SE'l, Bogota. 
l'd /! " ("-'" - J O 
rlgurc 1 Colombla and 11cta 
An! loqutO ArcJca 
Choco Co!i:cnore 
Vlchodo 
, 
e, O  O ,t 
o . , 
" < 
GUOlnlO 
Vou;:>es 
COQuoto 
AmoO-onas 
\ 
\ 
rl • , .. 'e t'" 'Ó ( ,.: .. ".' , , o. • 
ft t 'h ...... • 
" t.O", j,' '. ............ """"'--L'~ Si ..~. ~.. '  
2 The 5011$ of .M.. e ta 
• 
'-. 
'" . \ 
• AliuV1Cl overflow 
plcln 
o °ec~'\f 
Figure 3 
e lrt el ChOICe S - J\~(.n (ttll1 \'; Olnen 
:Cnt<..nng Chsscs 19B1 ¡ 1982 
T<..ch"l1cal Umvcrslty of the Lla'1os 
Lxpr<..ssed ln Percenlages 
Men Ea Tolal cnlcnng 49¿ '" 560/0 
Women O Total enlenng 389 '" 44% 
V!7//-:;-zrz--r-z,¿---r-ZT/-o. -Z"""Z"""Z-r-Z-;>'7"'"""r-/--Z1 2 8 % 
L[_ ______.. .;· 14~0 Agronomy 
rZZZ71~1<¡://// /7Z/7/Z/Zl1 4 0% Vet M edlClne 
2% 
38% l\!urslOg 
"f'lIIIZ////1 J6% 
I 24% Farm SClences Tea",hers 
, 
~'fZZ/ZZ3/J 14% 
_ _~ 12"\. Physlcal SClenc(>s 
TC1Chcl" 
Pa'1sen-31 
Rei.e.rence<; (;Atad 
Banco de la RepublLca, 1982 
, 
SLtuacLon EconomLca del Departamento del Meta, 1981. 
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v 
Br~nez, O., 1980 
, 
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, , 
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~ 
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Hansen-32 
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-" 
Transformac~on de la un~dad domest~ca y el trabajo de la 
In 
mUjer capes~na en una zona de avanzado desarrollo cap~ta1~sta. 
¡'. 
In Leal, M. ad., Mujer y Cap~tal~smo A~rarlo. Estudlo de 
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'-' 
/ 
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,- / 
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____ .1981b 
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Hansen-33 
Grupo Ecolog~co del Tol~ma, 1978c 
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• _________________________ , 1981 
Cnv~ado Espec~al Guerra Qu~m~ca. Betarrax. prepared by 
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_________________________ • 1982 
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/ 
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-. 1982a 
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Hansen~34 
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• ~ ,; -
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./ 
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_____________________ , 1980b 
.,-
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¡ 
J 
o