Mujeres y coca: una relación agridulce

For several decades Colombia has been one of the world’s leading producers of coca leaf, which partly explains why thousands of peasant families derive their livelihoods from the production of these crops. In this article we show how the coca economy, despite its illicit nature, generates conditions that facilitate women’s access to productive resources and the paid labor market, which explains why gender condition is not such a high barrier to their participation in the productive chain. We also explore the impact that this phenomenon has on the economic autonomy of rural women. This research was based on a survey of users of the Comprehensive National Programme for the Substitution of Illicit Crops and on fieldwork in the municipality of Puerto Asis, Putumayo, one of the main areas of illicit crop production in the country.