{"id":57,"date":"2024-08-29T16:51:58","date_gmt":"2024-08-29T16:51:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/feed4justice.ces.uc.pt\/?page_id=57"},"modified":"2025-09-11T15:31:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T15:31:56","slug":"entrevistas","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/feed4justice.ces.uc.pt\/?page_id=57","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Basque Country<\/strong><\/mark><\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Maite Aristegi<\/strong>, Bergara, Gipuzkoa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Amets Ladislao<\/strong>, Errigoiti, Bizkaia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Malu Egiluz<\/strong>, Areatza, Bizkaia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Lorena Costas<\/strong>, Otxandio, Bizkaia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Leire Sorhouet<\/strong>, Errigoiti, Bizkaia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Alazne Intxauspe<\/strong>, Bizkaia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Puy Arrieta<\/strong>, Zeanuri, Bizkaia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Rosa<\/strong> Elgezabal<\/strong>, Arrieta, Baizkaia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Maritxu Telleria<\/strong>, Bizkaia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Galicia<\/mark><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Natalia Varela Cada\u00eda<\/strong>, Lugo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Raquel Garcia<\/strong>, A Coru\u00f1a<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Mar\u00eda Jos\u00e9 Tallon<\/strong>, Pontevedra<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Iolanda Otero<\/strong>, Pontevedra<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Concha Blanco<\/strong>, Lugo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Carmen Sanch\u00e9z<\/strong>, A Coru\u00f1a<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Portugal<\/strong><\/mark><\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Rosa Dias<\/mark><\/strong>, Castro Marim, Faro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Aurora Silva<\/strong>, S. Pedro do Sul, Viseu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Carmen Staats<\/strong>, Lous\u00e3, Coimbra<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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F\u00e1tima Costa<\/strong>, Trancoso, Guarda<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Rita Sousa<\/strong>, Odemira, Beja<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Paula Serrano<\/strong>, Palmela, Set\u00fabal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Fernanda Mateus<\/strong>, Oleiros, Castelo Branco<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Eunice Tavares<\/strong>, Vila Real<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Maria da Visita\u00e7\u00e3o<\/strong>, Sesimbra, Set\u00fabal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Aurora Silva, Association “Arcas de Covelinhas” and UMAR Viseu – Covelinhas,S. Pedro do Sul, Viseu<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aurora Silva has spent her entire life in the village of Covelinhas, nestled between the S\u00e3o Mac\u00e1rio and Montemuro mountains in the Laf\u00f5es region. Covelinhas is part of the parish of S\u00e3o Martinho das Moitas in the municipality of S\u00e3o Pedro do Sul, within the district of Viseu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In August 2017, Aurora and her fellow villagers founded the Association Arcas de Covelinhas<\/a>. Together with other women, Aurora engages in traditional activities tied to the “cycle of wool,” aiming to educate others, make occasional sales, and, most importantly, ensure that these cultural traditions endure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aurora also participates in community and rural women’s projects<\/a> organized by Association Fragas Aveloso<\/a>, a development organization from a nearby village focusing on environmental and feminist causes, and UMAR Viseu<\/a>, a local branch of a national feminist association. Through these projects, rural women from the districts of Viseu and Guarda came together to draft a Manifesto<\/a> defending rural women\u2019s rights. The manifesto was approved on October 15, 2023, International Rural Women’s Day, and publicly presented, along with their demands, one year later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been in agriculture, working the land,\u201d says Aurora, even during periods of wage labor outside her village. She primarily grows food for her family, noting that for them, \u201cthe farmers’ market is my mountains, my home.\u201d Any surplus is shared with neighbors, rarely sold. She tends a vegetable garden and cares for animals, though less so now due to health issues. For Aurora, \u201cworking the land has always been my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her farming methods follow the ways of her mother: using her own seeds (buying only when necessary) and fertilizing with animal manure. The biggest change has been the introduction of tractors, which now handle plowing and spreading manure, replacing labor-intensive practices. Chemicals are used sparingly and only when absolutely needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aurora also manages household chores, balancing them with farm work. She and her husband share farming responsibilities: he handles tougher tasks like plowing, while she tends the vegetable garden and does lighter work like hoeing, watering, and harvesting. Now retired, they\u2019ve scaled back their farming, as they no longer wish to be \u201cslaves to work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reflecting on the past, Aurora recalls that women were once \u201cvery much slaves\u201d to both housework and farm labor. They carried heavy loads of hay and corn on their heads, walked long distances to work on farms, and helped neighbors with unpaid labor such as clearing land, manuring, and harvesting crops like corn and potatoes. Even as a child, Aurora helped her mother by preparing food and delivering it to the fields\u2014an hour\u2019s walk away. Women worked tirelessly from morning to night, only to return home to care for animals and complete additional chores traditionally assigned to them. Today, she notes, tractors have eased much of this burden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the late 1970s, Aurora worked in the resin sector, a job she enjoyed despite the disparity in pay: men earned more than women for less physically demanding work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Covelinhas also has a rich tradition of wool craftsmanship, led by women. Socks and other garments were once made by hand at night by the fire. Though such practices have faded, Aurora\u2019s association is reviving them, preserving knowledge of the wool cycle and the work songs women sang while laboring in the fields. \u201cThe older women were always singing,\u201d she fondly recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aurora enjoys participating in activities hosted by UMAR Viseu, which she describes as opportunities to learn, broaden her horizons, and connect with others. Having rarely left her village, these experiences offer her a chance to see beyond her immediate world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding public policies, Aurora feels that village infrastructure is lacking. With limited transport options and no ability to drive, she depends entirely on her husband for mobility, reducing her autonomy. Access to healthcare is also a challenge: the health center is far away, and even when they make the trip, appointments are often unavailable. Additionally, Aurora sees a pressing need for measures to retain young people in the village, which is increasingly populated by older residents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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BACK<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Rosa Dias, agroecological farmers at Quinta da Fornalha, co-founder of the Agroecological Association Al-Bio – Castro Marim, Vila Real de Santo Ant\u00f3nio, Faro<\/mark><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rosa Dias didn\u2019t originally plan to become a farmer. She didn\u2019t dream about it or study for it, but her deep family and emotional ties to the land ultimately led her there. Her father, an organic farmer for over 30 years, faced significant struggles. Initially, the market for organic produce was underdeveloped, and later, he couldn\u2019t compete with imported dried figs from Turkey or almonds from the United States after EU trade agreements in the 2000s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2008, amidst the economic crisis, Rosa took on the challenge of preserving her family\u2019s legacy, a heritage passed down since the 1755 earthquake. She refused to be mortgaged or to turn the farm “into a resort, a golf course, a citrus grove, an avocado plantation or large raspberry greenhouses”, common solutions in the Algarve. For her, these options were unthinkable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a young mother and recent graduate, Rosa became a farmer, leveraging one of the last grants for young farmers that didn\u2019t require heavy capital investment. She also attended a Women’s Entrepreneurship Programme promoted by the Commission for Gender Equality, which she describes as “structurally well done” and which included consultancy and a prize if she managed to keep the company active and functioning for two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quinta da Fornalha<\/a>, Rosa\u2019s farm, spans over 30 hectares, including 9 hectares of carob trees, 5 hectares each of pine forest, fig orchards, and orange groves, along with smaller areas of olive trees and a lake. \u201cIt\u2019s a very diverse system,\u201d she says. Exporting fresh figs has been a cornerstone of her farm\u2019s income for the past 13 years. In addition, she has diversified into rural tourism with a restaurant and accommodation units, and she processes food products from lower-quality raw materials that wouldn\u2019t sell well otherwise. “I realised that I couldn’t depend exclusively on a single business model.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her agroecological approach stems naturally from her family\u2019s practices. Rosa quickly identified that bare soil worsened erosion, reduced yields, and shortened tree lifespans. Her vision is to transform the farm into a \u201cthick forest,\u201d where the tree canopy shades the soil, fostering organic matter accumulation and protecting it during the harsh summer months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting as a young farmer wasn\u2019t easy. She entered a male-dominated sector where her presence surprised many. She faced logistical challenges early on without cold storage or a loading bay for her fresh figs. Despite this, Rosa embraced the difficulties, attributing her resilience to her life experience as a woman. Even so, \u201cthere have been times when people come to the farm asking, ‘Where\u2019s the man?'”, she recalls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rosa believes her perspective as a woman has shaped her approach to farming. Unlike a purely economic, profit-driven view, she sees the system as a complex, interconnected whole. \u201cSome parts may not be highly profitable on their own, but they support and enhance the system overall.\u201d For her, this stems from women\u2019s role in nurturing interdependent life stages\u2014caring for babies, the elderly, and others who rely on a supportive social network. She believes this sensibility coming from women’s caring experiences translates into agroecological farming, which prioritises balance and sustainability over short-term gains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her commitment to supporting small-scale farmers led her to co-found Al-Bio Associa\u00e7\u00e3o Agroecol\u00f3gica<\/a>, a largely female-led organisation. The association focuses on supporting small-scale farmers in marketing their products, provides training and technical assistance in agroecology, and, especially, advocates for agricultural policies that recognise the needs of small-scale producers. Their work became increasingly urgent when the Ministry of Agriculture and other public institutions began sidelining small agroecological farmers in organic farming support measures and local supply programs for public canteens under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rosa frequently encounters resistance in policy discussions with public institutions, where she is often the only woman in the room. \u201cMansplaining\u201d and dismissive attitudes toward her views and ideas are common. She attributes this either to prejudice or an incapacity to understand an agriculture made of care and love, not exclusively in an extractivist, profit-oriented logic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She criticises the distortion of CAP policies in Portugal, describing how state decisions often fail to serve small farmers. She was particularly disheartened by the Ministry\u2019s move to include integrated production under organic farming support measures, a step she views as undermining true organic practices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To transform food systems, Rosa proposes several key policy measures:<\/p>\n\n\n\n