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Guardians of the land

Women cultivating change in Uruguay

April 7^th, 2025

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In Uruguay, a group of rural women is breaking down structural inequalities and combating the negative effects of climate change.

Through the VIGÍAS (Guardians) initiative, these women cultivate and care for the land while they build support networks, share knowledge and encourage solutions to make the campo, or countryside, a better place.

Karen, Adriana and Rosina are living examples of this leadership.

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'The connection women have to giving life is like that of the Earth'

Karen is a rancher in the department of Lavalleja in southern Uruguay. From her farm, Piedra Libre, she leads initiatives that combine climate adaptation and community building.

The name of her farm holds deep meaning for her. “‘Piedra libre’ was what we yelled when we were playing hide and seek. And when you ran to touch home base and yell ‘piedra libre [roughly, 'home free'] for me and all my friends!’ It was a communal game,” she explains. According to Karen, that notion of collaboration and collective effort is key to saving the country's agricultural sector.

In 2020, Karen left her life in the city to dedicate herself fully to the campo, knowing that she had to combine work and training. “Without education, it's hard to live in the country. It’s very important to get training. Otherwise, you’re immediately out of the game,” she says. So, she educated herself in areas like veterinary medicine, food safety and climate change.

In Piedra Libre, Karen and her family have turned challenges into opportunities. They use preemptive strategies like feed storage and careful water management, maintaining their livestock while providing water to neighbours who are also farmers.

She dreams of a landscape that can withstand the impacts of climate change.

Since 2019, Uruguay has had a National Plan for Adaptation to Variability and Climate Change for the Agricultural Sector, which is led by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fishing and with support from FAO and UNDP. The country is also making progress in climate change mitigation and adaptation through its nationally determined contributions (NDCs), having already submitted its third NDC. According to the latest report on the status of the NDCs, the country stands out for its firm commitment to gender equality, social inclusion and just transition.

Karen has seen how fear and lack of opportunities limit many women in her community, while traditional roles tend to make them invisible. “I do the same work as my husband; we share tasks,” she explains. “The connection women have to giving life is like that of the Earth”, she says, comparing the power that both have to create.

To break down barriers, she has taken on a crucial role in the VIGÍAS initiative, becoming a vital link to help other women access information, education and resources. From Piedra Libre, Karen dreams of building a better future from the countryside, with the goal of building a legacy based on community and equity.

'We are the guardians of the natural landscape'

Adriana was born in Villa Indart, the rural property that has belonged to her family for over 100 years. It is located in the department of Rivera, on the border with Brazil.

Her connection with the countryside is rooted in memories of her childhood, which shaped her sense of belonging and her love for the campo. “I went to Rivera [the city] and attended primary and secondary school. I came back every break,” she recalls.

And so she did come back – this time to stay – after she inherited the farm.

That indestructible bond with the land was what moved her, after years of witnessing overexploitation, to commit herself to leaving the property in better condition for future generations. “It was an ethical issue, to leave this place better. It wasn't enough for me to just be a producer,” she says.

Uruguay has 16.4 million hectares fit for agricultural use, which accounts for more than 90 percent of its territory. However, intensive land use has brought significant challenges, such as soil degradation, while climate change effects, like more intense and prolonged droughts, compound the difficulties. In this context, responsible and sustainable use of the natural landscape can be key to the preservation of ecosystems, encouraging soil regeneration, biodiversity and long-term productivity.

Adriana is determined to reverse the situation by taking advantage of the solutions offered by the land. “During the last drought, the enclosures optimized water use,” she says, walking alongside one of the ponds that allowed her livestock to drink during the entire drought. Today in her community, she promotes initiatives like building cisterns to capture rainwater and improving water management with enclosed reservoirs to optimize its use in times of scarcity.

She has also integrated her property into the Refugios de Vida Silvestre programme, an NGO dedicated to preserving Uruguay's natural heritage, with the objective of transforming her land into a space where production and biodiversity conservation can coexist. She is also part of Semillas Fronterizas, part of the Red Nacional de Semillas Nativas y Criollas (National Network of Native and Creole Seeds), where – along with other rural women – she promotes the cultivation and conservation of native seeds, creating opportunities for sustainable production and economic autonomy.

But it wasn't always this way. Adriana explains that the area was expansive and didn't have a solid rural community fabric. However, with the VIGÍAS initiative, little by little, they have created a space where they can “manage collective issues”. Through events with other rural women, Adriana seeks to inspire others to become protectors of natural resources because, as she says: “We are the guardians of the natural landscape.”

'I am borrowing this land from my children'

Rosina has resolved to dedicate her life to preserving the land she inherited from her father. “Papa always said that he was borrowing the land from his children. And now I feel and see myself reflected in those words. I am borrowing this land from my children. That’s why I have to work it with responsibility and love,” she says.

Her farm is located near the Rio de la Plata in the city of Libertad, department of San Jose. In her own words, it is a “multipurpose property”, as she grows fruits, raises livestock and even practices horticulture.

This diversity of production reflects her integrated approach, and the adaptability needed to face the challenges of rural life and climate change. “The main difficulty we have today is dealing the climate variability, which are undoubtedly increasingly negative,” she explains.

In her pursuit of making her property more sustainable, Rosina has adopted practices like using crop stubble to maintain moisture and better conserve the soil, or biological pest controls such as pheromones to disrupt mating – which reduces the need for chemical pesticides. These strategies not only help significantly reduce the environmental impact, but they also ensure the quality of her produce and bolster the land’s resilience.

Running an agro-industrial business in a sector that is still dominated by men has been another challenge for Rosina, who balances family and work responsibilities as a mother of three children. But her business is breaking the mold: “This place is distinctive in that there are several women with positions of trust and responsibility, epitomizing this pride of being a rural woman, leading businesses.” This is how Rosina became the first woman in Uruguay to earn the Murú seal, which recognizes and values products and services from rural women.

Through the VIGÍAS initiative, Rosina has built ties with other women, and it makes her glad to know that she isn't the only one: “We have the same problems, we are fighting the same way, and we are searching [for solutions] so that we can move forward. This is wonderful, it needs to keep going and be replicated.”

Hear more from Karen, Adriana and Rosina.

UNDP’s Climate Promise, through its Pledge to Impact programme, has supported over 120 countries to enhance and implement nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. Pledge to Impact is generously supported by the governments of Germany, Japan, United Kingdom, Sweden, Belgium, Spain, Iceland, the Netherlands, Portugal and other UNDP core contributors. This programme underpins UNDP’s contribution to the NDC Partnership.