Participatory guarantee systems in Senegal: shifting labour dynamics in agroecology

Abstract

ABSTRACT Participatory guarantee systems (PGS) are locally-embedded guarantee systems that allegedly empower local smallholders. Although PGS are often implemented in the realm of labour-intensive agroecological farming, empirical evidence about their labour implications remains sparse. This article addresses this gap by providing data from anthropological fieldwork about a PGS in Senegal. Drawing on feminist reproduction theory and feminist political ecology, the analysis suggests that the elaboration of the PGS was an elite-driven process that did not take into account local realities informed by occupational multiplicity and reproductive responsibilities and complicates distributional outcomes on the grounds of class and gender.