Abstract
Contribution of “Women’s Gold” to West African Livelihoods: The Case of Shea ( Vitellaria paradoxa ) in Burkina Faso. This paper (i) quantifies the contribution that Vitellaria paradoxa makes to the total income of rural households belonging to different economic groups in two areas of Burkina Faso; (ii) quantifies the involvement of women in shea nuts and fruits collection and processing; and (iii) empirically verifies the “gap filling” function of shea products in Burkina Faso by quantifying the commercialization and subsistence use of shea fruits, nuts, and butter between agricultural seasons. Based on data collected from structured household surveys used on a quarterly basis during a one-year period on 536 households, we demonstrate that the reliance on shea is generally high in the sampled populations, and is at its highest for the poorest households, for which it contributes 12 % of total household income. Moreover, shea nut collection and processing was found to provide a valuable source of cash income to female household members who otherwise have very few income possibilities. Finally, due to its ecology, shea fills in an income gap during a period where human activities are at their highest while income is at its lowest. Although shea is crucial for poor people’s livelihoods and for the generation of income for women, its harvesting and processing are time-consuming activities that generate low returns per unit of labor. We argue that shea collection and processing should therefore not be considered as a remedy to poverty but instead as a way for households to diversify their livelihood strategy and decrease their vulnerability to food insecurity and climate variability.
Contribution de l’or de ces femmes’ à l’économie des ménages en Afrique de l’Ouest: Le cas du karité (Vitellaria paradoxa Gaertn f.) au Burkina Faso. Cette étude vise à (i) quantifier la contribution du karité (Vitellaria paradoxa Gaertn f.) aux revenus totaux de ménages ruraux appartenant à différents groupes économiques dans deux régions du Burkina Faso; (ii) quantifier la participation des femmes dans la collecte des noix de karité et la fabrication du beurre de karité; et (iii) vérifier empiriquement la fonction d’assurance de continuité des revenus en quantifiant la commercialisation et la consommation de fruits, noix et beurre de karité entre les saisons agricoles. Les données ont été collectées grâce à des entretiens structurés faites sur une base trimestrielle durant une année auprès de 536 ménages. L’analyse démontre que la dépendance au karité est généralement élevée au sein de notre échantillon, et qu’elle est plus importante pour les ménages les plus pauvres parmi lesquels il contribue à 12 % du revenu ménager moyen. De plus, la collection de noix et fruits de karité ainsi que la fabrication du beurre est une activité génératrice de revenus cruciale pour les membres féminins des ménages qui autrement auraient très peu d’autres sources de revenus. Finalement, la collecte des produits du karité contribue à assurer une continuité des revenus ménagers entre les saisons agricoles, période durant laquelle les besoins en énergie sont à leur maximum alors que les revenus moyens des ménages sont à leur minimum. Malgré que le karité soit un produit environnemental d’une très haute importance pour l’économie des ménages pauvres ainsi que pour la génération de revenus auprès des femmes, sa collecte ainsi que la fabrication du beurre sont des activités qui nécessitent beaucoup de travail tout en générant de faibles rendements par unité de travail. Nous soutenons alors que la collecte du karité et la fabrication du beurre ne devraient pas être perçues comme un remède à la pauvreté rurale en Afrique de l’Ouest. En revanche, ces activités constituent une manière pour les ménages pauvres de diversifier leur économie et par le fait même de diminuer leur vulnérabilité face à, par exemple, l’insécurité alimentaire ainsi que la variabilité du climat.
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Acknowledgments
The author wishes to express her gratitude to the 536 households who have participated in this study. Special thanks go to Boureima Ouedraogo and Hanna Lise Simonsen for their very precious assistance in the field, and to Carsten Smith-Hall for his invaluable comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript. Field work for this research was supported by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), the Danish International Development Agency (Danida), and the University of Copenhagen.
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Pouliot, M. Contribution of “Women’s Gold” to West African Livelihoods: The Case of Shea (Vitellaria paradoxa) in Burkina Faso. Econ Bot 66, 237–248 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-012-9203-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-012-9203-6