A farmer and her cotton seeds: paving the way for a women’s network

07/10/2026

Graciela Galván, 34, is a family farmer who has lived in the countryside in Santiago del Estero since she was 12 years old. From an early age, she learned from her grandparents how to care for the land. Today, she continues to live and work in the countryside with her 17-year-old daughter and her partner. On her farm, agriculture has always been diverse, with the production of vegetables, peanuts, strawberries and fodder to feed goats and sheep. Part of the production is used for family consumption, while the rest is sold at an itinerant farmers’ market supported by the municipality of her city.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic marked a turning point in her farming activities. In 2020, she received seeds from a crop that was virtually unknown in her community: cotton. The crop entered Graciela’s life at a time when restrictions made travel difficult and many activities had been suspended.

The first crop not only introduced a new productive activity to her farm. It also sparked the interest of other young women in the area, some of whom joined the planting. With the encouragement of Graciela and her neighbors, the group connected with other rural women from Santa Fe, Chaco, Corrientes, Tucumán, Catamarca and Buenos Aires through the Argentine Network of Women in Cotton (RAMA), which brings together 16 organizations that also work with handicrafts. Its goal is to transform the cotton value chain into a productive model that is not only economically viable, but also socially fair and environmentally sustainable.

Today, Graciela also takes on new responsibilities within RAMA as the network’s president. She monitors and records the planting calendar, notes when cultivation begins and follows its development throughout the season. Together with other women from her organization, she develops value-added agriculture by producing cotton fiber and agroecological food.

Cotton seeds and new possibilities

“Many young people joined the cotton planting. Several girls were very interested in the initiative and also wanted to join the network,” says Graciela. In an area where hardly anyone had grown cotton, many people knew the fiber because of its use in medical products, but had never considered producing it themselves. “I was really surprised to learn what it was like, because no one here had ever done it,” she recalls.

The seeds came from Doriana Feuillade, an agricultural extension specialist with Argentina’s National Institute of Agricultural Technology (INTA) office in Reconquista. She invited Graciela to take part in an initiative to establish a cotton-growing network and join a pilot experience on a small plot. “Let’s give it a try,” Graciela recalls.

According to the extension specialist, the first cotton seeds were distributed among families with whom they had built relationships of trust and who were already engaged in agroecological production. Interested in trying new forms of cultivation, Graciela and her group of fellow farmers accepted the first small bag of seeds. With the first plants, the activity gradually expanded among them.

Since she began producing cotton six years ago, the crop has delivered good results, despite the challenges. Graciela managed to produce 85 kilograms of cotton fiber, demonstrating the production potential of the crop when combined with food production. Today, she grows cotton alongside peanuts, squash, maize, wheat and barley, “so that we can have income at different times of the year,” she explains. Diversification allows her to have other sources of production and food while the cotton completes its growing cycle.

The cotton she grows is agroecological and, for Graciela, this approach can attract more people interested in farming in a more natural way and with greater care for the environment. But when she thinks about the future, her main wish is not only to increase production. She also wants more women to find a place in agriculture and for their work to be recognized. “For their work to become more visible, and for women farmers to be valued more,” she says.

Beyond Argentina

With support from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Government of Brazil, through the Brazilian Cooperation Agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (ABC/MRE), Graciela took her experience and knowledge beyond her community. Through the +Cotton project, part of the Brazil-FAO South-South Cooperation Programme, the farmer had the opportunity to meet rural women from other countries in the region after joining the Latin American Network of Women in Cotton and share experiences, challenges and lessons learned with them.

For her, this Latin American exchange has allowed her to discover new ways of farming while also learning about the stories of women facing even greater challenges. “Being part of it and meeting new women, with different stories of struggle, has been an experience that has motivated me in many different ways,” she says.

One of the moments that left the greatest impression on her was her first international gathering, during a trip to Brazil in 2023 organized through cooperation between FAO and the Government of Brazil. There, Graciela took part in the Marcha das Margaridas, alongside rural women from Brazil, Colombia, El Salvador, Honduras and Mexico, in one of the largest mobilizations of rural women in Latin America.

The gathering also had an impact on her own community. After taking part in international activities, Graciela began receiving greater attention from local media. For her, this visibility is important because a woman who takes part in an international gathering does not represent only her own story. “Behind her, there are many women,” she says.

New challenges, new generations

For the farmer, the Network means much more than learning about production. Every two weeks, its members meet to discuss economic issues, such as fiber prices. The meetings have also become an opportunity to get together, talk about everyday challenges, exchange experiences and listen to the stories of other women farmers. “It is really wonderful to be able to get together and, many times, to let things out by sharing the stories or anecdotes from our daily lives,” she says.

According to Graciela, cotton production continues to face challenges. One of the main difficulties is the amount of time between planting and receiving payment for the fiber. However, with the support of the RAMA Network, she and the other women have found a market that guarantees the purchase of their cotton, which continues its journey within the network until it is transformed into yarn or garments.

The young farmer is motivated by women’s participation throughout the cotton value chain, whether selling fiber, yarn or the garments they produce. “I will keep planting, I will keep helping,” she says. Her goal, she explains, is not only to think about her own income, but to contribute to enabling all women to move forward together.

The future of rural areas also depends on the ability to engage younger generations. In her area, some young women have become interested in cotton cultivation, but attracting young people remains a challenge. For this reason, Graciela has even turned her own home into a learning space, where training sessions have been held on pruning, food handling and the production of crops for human and animal consumption.

Graciela is a farmer who not only cultivates her own land, but also helps pave the way for other women farmers. The cotton seeds have enabled her to connect with other women, build a network and share her experience in other parts of the world, beyond the borders of her country.