FEMALE COLLECTIVE ACTIONS AND ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT IN THE COMMUNITY OF SONI (TANZANIA).

The processes of the liberalization of markets, which have accompanied the recent global economic dynamics, have led to significant changes in the production of commercial crops. These changes have widened the inequality to access resources and income from commercial agriculture between men and women. Some women have organized themselves to respond to this situation and to improve various aspects of their lives. The aim of this paper is to analyse the processes of economic empowerment of rural women in Soni (Tanzania) when facing the mentioned unequal access to the production and distribution of income. These processes arise from the awareness of shared strategic interests. The data have been obtained from documental research and fieldwork, and the subsequent application of qualitative methodology to analyse data in the particular case of a village in the municipality of Soni. District of Lushoto, Northern Tanzania (2006-2009).