Economic role of women in a Honduran peasant community

Background information is presented on anthropological and Marxist theories on the sexual differentiation of labor; the difficulties in measuring women"s economic contributions, especially non-market oriented tasks; and family life and labor in Honduras. Site-specific ethnographic and economic data are presented and the various strategies by which women complete household, agricultural, and income-generating tasks are analyzed based on case studies of seven women from different household types and socioeconomic levels. Results show that while most of the women"s time is spent in food preparation and other household maintenance activities, women also engage in several income-generating activities, the most common of which is petty trade of home-produced foods. The study"s results are compared with those of similar studies in Peru and Burkina Faso, and it is noted in conclusion that improved design of agricultural research projects will depend on further detailed investigation of women"s economic roles and, specifically, of the connection between income-generating and household management activities.