gender, sheep and trees in zan coulibaly, mali: methodological approaches

WORLD CONGRESS OF AGROFORESTRY

Trees for life: accelerating the impact of agroforestryFebruary 2014

The gender dimensions of applying agroforestry innovation

GENDER, SHEEP AND TREES IN ZAN COULIBALY, MALI:METHODOLOGICAL APPROACHES

Marie France Labrecque, Andréanne Lavoie, Nancy Gélinas, Jean Bonneville et Alain Olivier

Multidisciplinary action research project

• Sheep herding in Mali

– Key economic activity

– Socially and culturally important

• Availability and costs of fodder = major constraint

• Project objectives:

– Improving incomes of rural women

– Investigating the contribution of tree fodder

Integrating agroforestry and sheep feed in Mali

Gender issue in sheep herding• Gender – more than a comparison between male and

female

• Interest is in women implication in decision making process

• Need to understand the situation to:

– Improve their capacities

– Provide opportunities to improve their well-being

All that without overloading women tasks and responsibilities!

Gender issue in sheep herding

• Our challenge:

– Deconstruct the assumption about clear cut sexual division of labour in sheep herding

– Assumptions

• Raising sheep is typically a female activity

• Tree harvesting is typically a male activity (with exceptions like shea)

Gender issue in sheep herding

• To address this challenge: Gender mainstreaming

– Gender mainstreaming is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, policies or programmes, in any area and at all levels (UN ECOSOS 1997)

Study and work region

• Commune of Zan Coulibaly• 90 km east from Bamako, Mali

• Area of 387 km2

• Composition: 51 localities, including 9 villages

• Women (9255) & Men (9235) (RGPH

2009)

18,490

2,847

1,597 concessions

Gender consideration in agroforestry project

• Objectives

• Take into account a methodological commitment toward gender mainstreaming

• Achieve an adequate representation of women in the different aspects of the project

• Methodological strategies

• Develop a participatory process with the community

• Build equal gender samples

• Consider gender in different aspects of social inquiries

Conceptual approach3 levels to gender mainstreaming

• Macro: Role of States

• Meso: Role of Institutions

• Micro: Role of citizens

MesoCoordination,

resources allocation, network ..

MicroLife

conditions, activities

MacroPolicy, law, …

How to consider gender …Illustration from sheep herding in Mali

At the Meso level - Give place to women

• Organisational and institution level

• Women expertise is different

• Different thoughts about sheep herding

Focus on the integration of rural women in organizations Field team for the inquiry

8

14

Team project gender repartition

Women

Men


At the Micro level• Participatory process to select sheep herders

• Seek representativeness of the gender in minority (women or men)

• Building inquiry samples:

CategoriesBased on gender

Few0 to 3

Mean4 to 8

Many> 8

Men 3 3 3

Women 6 6 6

Based on on the number of sheep owned


Women perception of labour involvement in sheep herding

Men perception of labour involvement in sheep herding

Herself39%

Girls of the household

3%

Boys of the household

21%

Other women of the

household2%

Man of the household

26%

Others persons of the

concession9%

Himself43%


1%


24%

Women of the

household16%

Other man of the

household0%

Others persons of

the concession

16%


Women and men perceptions of labour involvement in few tasks related to sheep herding

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

w m w m w m w m w m

Managing the herd

Feeding Watering Killing Selling

Other men of the concession

Other women of the concession



Husband or other men of the household

Women or other women of the household

Person herself


• But the gender concept is more than a comparison between sexes!

• Need to look at

– Intern characteristics for each gender

– Complexity of tasks division

Purposive sampling based on contrasted characteristics – Establishment of profiles

How to consider gender …Illustration from sheep farming in Mali

• Create categories more specific

Women categoriesBased on their family situation

Few0 to 3

Mean4 to 8

Many> 8

Muso singadenYoung married women living with their stepmother

2 2 2

Muso gakelaMarried women having their own household and all the responsibilities

2 2 2

Muso bolobolenMarried women retired from household responsibilities and working for themselves

2 2 2

Based on the number of sheep owned


Gender and generational division of labour is finally not that clear!

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Sin

gad

en

Gak

ela

Bo

lob

ole

n

Sin

gad

en

Gak

ela

Bo

lob

ole

n

Sin

gad

en

Gak

ela

Bo

lob

ole

n

Sin

gad

en

Gak

ela

Bo

lob

ole

n

Sin

gad

en

Gak

ela

Bo

lob

ole

n

Managing the herd Feeding Watering Killing Selling

Other men of the concession

Other women of the concession



Husband or other men of the householdOther women of the household

Woman herself

How to consider gender…

• Analysis perspective at Micro-level

• Consider• Women and men contributions in

production, reproduction and collective activities in terms of money and time invested

• Women and men knowledge about sheep herding and fattening

• Determine gender access to production factor, their use and control


• Land is considered a collective familial good

• Therefore, women, in theory, have access to land when herding

• However, half of them have to ask for permission

yes

no

do not apply

no answer

Need to ask a permission to use the land ?


• Access to grass fodder does not seem a problem as long as one asks permission

• As regards to fodder trees, women and men do know and use the same species to feed their sheep

• However, availability of products varies according to season

Discussion

• Difficulties raised by women gave us some clues:

– Research is needed about fodder availability and their nutritional value for sheep

– Need for dissemination of new techniques

– Grouping women to promote collective sheep herding and fattening efficiency (improved techniques )

• Is it enough?

– See our poster communication about financial aspect!

Conclusion/recommendations

• Study and integration of specificities related to gender, generation and domestic life show that

– Labour division is much more complex than expected

– Need a specific methodology to capture this complexity

• To promote change in gender relations, need to empower women by strengthening

– Their knowledge on the subject

– Their access to financial resources, production factors and market

References

• UN ESCOSOS.1997. Report of the economic and social council. United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs

• RGPH. 2013. Résultats définitif. 4e répertoire des villages.

Acknowledgements

This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Ottawa, Canada, www.idrc.ca, and with financial support from the Government of Canada, provided through Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development

Canada (DFATD), www.international.gc.ca

Special acknowledgements to all our collaborators and partners

http://www.idrc.ca

http://www.international.gc.ca/

gender, sheep and trees in zan coulibaly, mali: methodological approaches

Education