Rural women micro-entrepreneurs form part of the new set of social actors and economic agents who have achieved a high profile in the region over the last two decades.

Despite the many handicaps they face on a daily basis, women’s enterprises appear not only to be helping to create jobs and generate income in the rural milieu, but are also contributing to the development of new concepts concerning the potential of small enterprises in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

The purpose of this document is to give the reader a better grasp of the context in which women micro-entrepreneurs are gaining greater visibility, and of the potential of small rural businesses for correcting disparities in development patterns.