Women, Men, and Market Gardens

Gender Relations and Income Generation in Rural Mali

Bibliographic Data

ID18999461
AuthorsStephen R Wooten (corresponding author), Stephen Wooten (University of Oregon)
Year2003
Volume62
Issue2
Pages166-177
Publication date2003-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueHuman Organization (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0018-7259 • E-ISSN: 1938-3517
PublisherSociety for Applied Anthropology (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.17730/humo.62.2.b5gew5paf8qer3q0
OpenAlexW1968522219
LanguageEN
Citations received15
References cited24

As part of an ongoing process of socioeconomic transformation, commodity production is steadily becoming more common throughout rural Africa. However, research from a wide range of social and geographic settings indicates that factors such as ethnicity, class, age, and gender often play important roles in shaping specific patterns of participation in market production. This paper explores the relationship between gender and commodity production in central Mali. Drawing on the findings of a 14-month ethnographic study (1992-1994), I describe production dynamics in a rural Bamana farming community, paying particular attention to the organization of commercial activities. I use the gender relations of production framework to highlight the differential participation of men and women in commercial gardening activities. I argue that dominant Bamana social and cultural patterns lead to a gender-biased system of access to commercially viable productive resources, and I discuss the implications of these findings in terms of men's and women's economic standing and relative social power in their home communities and domestic groups. By providing a detailed study of gender relations in this setting, I aim to improve our understanding of the gendered nature of agricultural production in this region and our understanding of differential response to commercial agricultural opportunities in rural Africa at large

Agricultural productivity · Agriculture · Commodity · Differential (mechanical device) · Differentiation · Economic growth · Economics · Ethnic group · Geography · Population · Production (economics) · Relations of production · Social class · Social science · Socioeconomic status · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Agriculture and Rural Development Research · French Urban and Social Studies · Rangeland Management and Livestock Ecology