This paper explores the role being played by two prominent women groupings
in empowering farm women on South African fruit and wine farms. By focusing
their efforts on farm wives and women farm workers, the Cape Women's Forum
has embarked on a process of empowering farm women across race and class d
ivisions. This approach contrasts with that of the other group - the Women
on Farms Project - in that the latter facilitates the empowerment of women
farm workers only. The paper examines the activities of the two groups, ana
lyses the underlying assumptions regarding women's shared interests guiding
these divergent approaches from a feminist perspective, and identifies fac
tors which could constrain women's empowerment. Information on these groups
was obtained by in-depth interviews and analysis of written documents. It
is suggested that liberal and socialist/Marxist feminist paradigms are part
icularly useful when interpreting the empowerment strategies employed by th
ese two women's groups. The paper concludes that, although these groups are
making significant inroads into the empowerment of farm women, development
s within the South African agricultural sector and the politics of internat
ional sponsorship may impede empowerment efforts in future.