CAMAGÜEY.- Yunelkis Rivero Mayedo seems thin and petite, but many voices inhabit her inside her, as if she spoke and little people came out of her mouth. Yune, that's what her friends call her, she runs the Dos hermanos farm in Jimaguayú and works as an economics worker at the CCS Evelio Rodríguez in that municipality in Camagüey.

“Our fundamental production is milk and meat, although I plan to start planting vegetables and root vegetables for family self-consumption. We ended 2022 with a delivery of 26,000 liters of milk, higher than the previous year and in terms of meat production, we added more than six tons for the industry, in addition to direct sales to the population and companies, of the benefits of the 63 measures”.

“Two brothers” has grown a lot, along with her leader, who is also in the care of her mother and built a better house for both of them. The farm could be the image of a very marked before and after, also Yune; although all her achievements are not tangible like milk and meat.

“Since I began my working life, I have been linked to the agricultural sector, and I started this work in 2018. I always wanted to have larger cattle, it might seem like a complex job, but I knew I could. So I asked for my modest piece of land, to contribute more directly to the food and economy of my family and my country. I started with eight cows and three rams; and I already have 116 specimens of cattle; I started with three rams and I already count 68. When you work hard, the land and the animals pay you back.”

Yunelkis has been inserted in various projects to contribute to food security, such as Prodegan, Basal and currently she belongs to the Caproca project.

“This has given me tools and knowledge, greater resilience in the face of climate change, with highly trained specialists in training workshops. In addition, we have formed a great family to share knowledge. I have learned a lot about agroecology, essential for a resilient farm. For example, on my farm I have live fences; I have eight hectares of tree forests, which are protected and improved; solid and liquid waste from livestock is managed for organic fertilizer and in the next few days, thanks to the project, we will install a biodigester to process pig excrement and generate gas for cooking. In addition, we plant livestock feed for the dry period and, above all, crops resistant to drought, which is our biggest obstacle."

Her voice is plural because in her words all the rural women go together. But she not only says herself, she also does it through her Local Gender Committee in the cooperative and the projects she promotes in the community to contribute to leadership and female empowerment.

“We are part of a very macho context, where women are excluded from activities, we are discriminated against and they don't listen to us in certain spaces. This problem is rooted in the patriarchal society we live in, it is what we are taught, and a reality to transform. One of the themes of the CAPROCA project that I like the most is that women's rights are defended openly, with concrete actions. I consider myself a defender of that cause and whenever I can support, I will.

“I am a woman, I am a farmer, I am the leader of my farm and I am an economics member of a cooperative; that is why I define myself as a brave, enterprising and unconditional woman with the people who surround me”. This is how Yunelkis describes herself, who gets nervous at the request to define herself, but then she reflects and speaks confidently.

She learned to manage her time, her money, her life; her stereotypes and prejudices haunt her, but she must look up, because when a small woman like Yune plants rubber boots on the ground and among the cows, she grows up before the immensity of her little farm. Then, her voice comes out even through her pores and multiplies until it encompasses the enormous space of her will and her dreams.

Translated by Linet Acuña Quilez