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‘HOT MONEY’: GENDER AND THE POLITICS OF NEGOTIATION AND CONTROL OVER INCOME IN WEST AFRICAN SMALLHOLDER HOUSEHOLDS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 May 2013

Batamaka Somé
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Abstract

Most development interventions targeting rural women's economic empowerment measure success through returns from women's on-farm or off-farm activities and the income they generate. This article suggests that special emphasis needs to be laid on income control, not just its generation, in order to take account of the more or less subtle socio-cultural obstacles and other structures of constraint hindering women in this regard. The article draws from ethnographic case studies conducted for a doctoral dissertation project in south-west Burkina Faso to show how women in cotton-farming zones strategize to circumvent customary rules and control their on-farm incomes. The context is an organic cotton-farming project targeting women. I argue that understanding these constraints and strategies provides policy makers and development practitioners with tools for a better grasp of the social landscape – and that this, in turn, enables them to reach empowerment goals.

Résumé

La plupart des interventions de développement en faveur de l'autonomisation économique des femmes rurales mesurent leur succès à l'aune des gains que les femmes tirent de leurs activités agricoles et non agricoles, et du revenu qu'elles génèrent. Cet article suggère la nécessité de mettre un accent particulier sur le contrôle du revenu, et pas seulement sur sa génération, afin de prendre en compte les obstacles socioculturels plus ou moins perceptibles et autres structures de contrainte qui gênent les femmes à cet égard. Cet article s'inspire d’études de cas ethnographiques menées dans le cadre d'un projet de thèse de doctorat dans la région sud-ouest du Burkina Faso pour montrer comment les femmes, dans les zones de culture du coton, élaborent des stratégies pour se soustraire aux règles coutumières et contrôler leurs revenus agricoles. Ces études ont pour cadre un projet de culture biologique du coton favorisant les femmes. L'auteur affirme qu'en comprenant ces contraintes et stratégies, les décideurs et acteurs du développement disposent d'outils pour mieux appréhender le paysage social et, par là-même, atteindre leurs objectifs en matière d'autonomisation.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 83 , Issue 2 , May 2013 , pp. 251 - 269
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2013 

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