Women's Empowerment: A Key Mediating Factor between Cotton Cropping and Food Insecurity in Western Burkina Faso

Abstract

We examined associations between cotton cropping, women's empowerment, and household food insecurity in Burkina Faso. A cross-sectional study was conducted during the 2012 pre-harvest period. Socioeconomic characteristics and agricultural production data were collected using a questionnaire. The Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) questionnaire was used to assess household food insecurity. Four villages of western Burkina Faso were selected for the study. In total, 275 farmer's households, who had at least one child between the age of 6 and 59 months, participated in the survey. Food insecurity affected 67% of households. HFIAS score was negatively correlated with the Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) (r = - 0.40, P = 0.000006). Cotton cropping was not directly associated with the HFIAS score, while women's workload (positively) and income-generating activities (negatively) were. Interestingly, the only village where women could own cotton fields was negatively associated with the HFIAS score. An intensive cotton production was positively associated with the amount of time women spent fetching water and was tendentiously associated with women's working time in cotton fields. Finally, the size of cotton farms was positively associated with the practice of petty trading. The relationships between cash cropping, women's daily activities, and food insecurity are dynamic, behaviour related, and should be targeted for appropriate behaviour change intervention in order to alleviate food insecurity.