Women at the edge of forest management in Northern Cameroon

Abstract

In northern Cameroon like in all Sudano-Sahelian regions, women have very few rights to trees, although they are key users of tree products. Surveys and feedback sessions were conducted in five villages, each being representative of an agroecological subregion, to understand the disparity between the importance of trees for women and their lack of involvement in tree management. Although women are aware of the pressure on available tree resources, they feel powerless to do anything about it. Tree management actions women have undertaken or intend to undertake are limited to the vicinity of the homestead. In other places, parkland fields and savannah bush, women are skeptical about and sometimes unaware of actions that could be undertaken. This is mainly due to the existing gender relations. Men have the power over rights of access to trees and make all decisions concerning management of trees in the parklands and savannahs. The gender division of labor is such that women are not involved in tree management. A change in gender relations and a complete reversal of opinion and behavior would be needed for a more balanced involvement of women and men in the management of trees. (Résumé d'auteur

Beyond dichotomies: Gender and intersecting inequalities in climate change studies

“…Within the agricultural production system of rural societies, social hierarchies based on combinations of lineage, gender and age determine resource access, division of labour and decision-making mechanisms. Women and youth are crucial to agricultural work, but their involvement in decision making and their access to assets are limited (Kabeer 1994; Fortmann and Rocheleau 1997; Colfer 2005; Gautier and van Santen 2014; White 2012). …”

The forgotten half? Women in the forest management and development discourse in Africa: A review

“…Women have traditional knowledge in the management of forestry products (Coulibaly, 1994); however, they feel powerless to control resource degradation (Gautier and Santen, 2014) and management (Barrow et al, 2002). Their voices are not equally placed to voice their priorities in planning forest protection and have long been devalued in forest management decisions (Agarwal, 2001;Mai et al, 2012).…”

“…As an example, women are not allowed to own trees and believe that men should handle issues on tree management (Coulibaly, 1994). In another example, in Northern Cameroon, women have few rights to trees, and men have the power over trees to make all decisions concerning their management in the parklands and savannas (Gautier and Santen, 2014). Olawoye (1996) argued that it is not adequate to educate rural inhabitants about the need to plant trees if they are barred from doing so by societal norms.…”

“…In some instances, when a woman owns land, it is mostly managed by a man in her family or even by male relatives. Tree management is considered a preserve of men and land rights ownership is linked to rights to trees (Coulibaly, 1994;Gautier and Santen, 2014). Unmarried women are further constrained as they have no rights to land (Barrow et al, 2002).…”

Women’s participation and the gender perspective in sustainable forestry in Cambodia: local perceptions and the context of forestry research

“…The study on Nepali women using community forestry as a platform for social change by Giri & Darnhofer (2010), revealed that understanding the process of change is crucial to identifying approaches that could lead to equity in decision making and transformative participation by women and other disadvantaged group. Gautier & Van Santen (2014) found that women have very few rights to trees in Cameroon although they are key users of forest products. Respondents in this study ranked lower the barriers of 'women lack formal education and skills and personal networks' (mean rank ¼ 3.19) and 'culture and long distance' (mean rank ¼ 3.25).…”