The woman in the agricultural enterprises of the Catalan Pyrenees (Urgellet-Baridà)

Abstract

Women play an important role in productive activities on farms in the Urgellet-Baridà area of the Pyrenees, in spite of their apparently limited participation in the active population this situation is more marked in mountainous areas (settlements at over 900 m altitude) than in the valleys. Moreover, an anlysis of farms classified on the basis of gross income, demonstrates that he contribution of women is greater at low levels of income. For this study a questionnaire was carried out on 298 farms units in an area of 1. 098 sq. km (14. 571 hab. ) in the Pyrenees, in which the active rural population is less then 1. 200. According to the area constitutes 7. 2% of the total, while the questionnaire revealed that it is, in fact, one third of the total. The lack of statistical information meant that the questionnaire was the only means of demonstrating that in a large number of farm units not only men, but also women, perform vital operational functions.