Brief Communication: Weeding Out Failed Practices: A Case Study of Community Gardens in Rural Mali

Abstract

The World Bank estimates that 78% of economically active women in Mali are engaged in agricultural activities. Consequently women are challenged as much as men by recent changes that have resulted in diminished agricultural yield. Importantly this situation has increased male migration to urban centers to find alternative work making women’s roles in production essential to household and community survival. Attempting to ensure food sufficiency women supplement family earnings through small-scale income-generating activities such as the production of charcoal the processing of shea butter and market gardening. In his study on Mali Becker (2000) found that revenue from own-account activities including gardening are essential to food security and most critical for women whose access to labor and insecure land tenure were most volatile. The failure of large-scale agricultural interventions has also prompted scholars to propose alternative strategies for enhancing food security including small-scale gardens. Several facets of community gardening such as the relatively low start-up cost adaptability to harsh conditions and the capacity for fostering sound environmental practices have been the basis for its support by NGOs worldwide. Unlike subsistence farming which is relatively more labor intensive gardening activities can coincide with women’s daily tasks. Some scholars further argue that gardening is a “food-based” strategy that can empower women because it relies on existing practices and on their responsibility as caregivers. (excerpt)