• In recent years, weed control has become a constant concern of

producers. The influence of weed durably impacted on productivity

and has even increased.

• More weeding activities are performed by women, but these acti-

vities are manually conducted; increasing the hardship .

• However, very little information exists on the participation of

women in weeding techniques in Mali and Niger.

• baCkground

• The first objective of this study was to understand the implication

of women in weeding activities which are highly labour consuming

in sorghum and millet production.

• The second objective was to explore the use of chemical herbicides

and the distribution of roles related to the various weeding tech-

niques in the four areas.

• objeCtives

• In Mali, surveys were conducted in five villages in the circle of Kou-

tiala (Nampossela, N'gonianasso, Sirakelé, Zanzoni and Mpèssoba),

four villages in the circle of Bougouni (Dieba, Flola, Madina Kourou-

lamini and Sibirila).

• In Niger, surveys were conducted in five villages of the region of

Tahoua (Bazaga, Bulke, Tsarnaoua, Tcherassa Mangou. Kaky) and

five villages of the region of Maradi (Acha Bissa, Dan Tchiro, Dillo,

Gounnaka, Massaourari).

• Quantitative and qualitative data were collected among 359

women in Mali and 166 in Niger.

• methodology

• Pre-test in Dieba (Bougouni’s region)

• Individual interviews with producers in Mali (Koutiala, Bougouni)

and Niger (Tahoua and Maradi) between May and July 2015

• Descriptive analysis and report writing between August and Decem-

ber 2015

• Using gender dimension framework

• aCtivities

• Use of particular weeds control techniques depends on the level of

equipment and the training of farmers (Figure 1) ;

• Manual weeding is largely performed by women. In Mali, about 94%

of women performed weeding with hoe and 98% in Niger.

• In Mali, about 37% of women spend between 15 and 30 days in the

weeding with hoe two weeks after sowing (Figure 2) and 66% spend

between 1 and 15 days in the two week weeding with hoe in Niger

(Figure 3).

• Very few women’ farmers use herbicide to control for weeds.

• results and main aChievements

• No gender dimension exist for weed control techniques; however a specific

technique can be widely used by one gender than the other depending on the

level of equipment, knowledge or training;

• In Mali, some farmers use herbicides to control weeds for millet and sorghum

production but this technique is not used in Niger;

• Women highly depend on men to performe herbicide sprays and use of oxen

in weeding control in the villages of Koutiala and Bougouni in Mali.

• ConClusions

•Current partnerships

Partnership with AMEDD in Mali and INRAN in Niger.

- Bougouna SOGOBA, Association Malienne d’Eveil au Développement

Durable (AMEDD), Koutiala, Mali. bougouna.sogoba@ameddmali.org

- Germaine IBRO, Department of Economy, Rural Sociology and

Technology Transfert, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique

du Niger (INRAN), Niamey, Niger. geribro@yahoo.fr

Women weeding activities for millet and sorghum production in Mali and Niger

Almamy Sylla1, Alphonse Singbo1 & Wenda Bauchspies2

1International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)2 National Science Foundation (NSF), USA

Corresponding author email: a.singbo@cgiar.org