1 Agriculture, Rural Development and Equality of Opportunities between Men and Women in Greece 1 Charalambos Kasimis Apostolos G. Papadopoulos Professor Lecturer Department of Economics Department of Farm Organization University of Patras and Management University Campus – Rio University of Ioannina 26500 Patras 2 G.Seferis Street Greece 30100 Agrinio kasimis@upatras.gr Greece appapado@cc.uoi.gr Abstract The paper discusses the main issues arising from the description of the current situation of gender equality of opportunities and the prospects of rural development in Greece. The characteristic of rural development does not refer to the development of agriculture only but also to the social and spatial development of the countryside. Rural space thus is considered as an arena where the socio-economic and cultural activities are expressed: in the sphere of production and consumption, at the level of the household and local society, in farming and off-farm activities, in the local and the wider (national) market and at the individual and family level. Drawing from a recent report entitled “Gender equality of opportunities and rural development in Greece” the paper underlines the significance of altering the gender division of labour in order to promote equality of opportunities between men and women. The equality of opportunities in the Greek countryside can be organically associated to the development of the new functions of rural space, the dignified and autonomous living of women in rural areas, the reinforcement of the social and economic activities which are linked to their living, the essential interpretation of the rural development policies, the support and development of the endogenous potential of rural areas and the increase of employment opportunities for the development of rural areas. Thus off-farm employment of women does not necessarily lead to greater equality of opportunities among the two sexes but is rather linked to the diffusion of inequalities in the wider social and economic space. 1 This paper is based upon a study financed by the Greek Ministry of Agriculture entitled: “Study for the Equality of Opportunities between Men and Women and Rural Development”, Institute of Urban and Rural Sociology,National Centre for Social Research (EKKE), April 2000. The study was coordinated by Professor C. Kasimis and authored by Dr. A.G. Papadopoulos.