Local Livelihoods and Protected Area Management: Biodiversity Conservation Problems in Cameroon

Chapter 8 - Gender Roles and Power Relationships in Environmental Protection

139 Chapter 8 Gender Roles and Power Relationships in Environmental Protection Case Study: Agro-forestry programme of the Bamenda Highlands Summary Divisions between men and women in access to natural resources and in their management and use are common in African land management systems. Women constitute the bulk of small-scale resource-limited farmers. Yet, cropland is often not directly under their control. It is usually controlled either by their husbands, brothers or fathers. Therefore, both tenure and gender considerations necessarily go together. The chapter examines gender relations and land tenure as they affect the development of agroforestry using a combination of primary and secondary data sources. The study collates data on land tenure, age and sex characteristics of farm households, farm size and access to land, gender division of labour and farm family labour input in order to establish the gender sensitive issues in agroforestry development. It concludes that agroforestry practices can alleviate some of the burdens of women. Yet, land tenure issues as they affect agroforestry development do not favour women. The chapter therefore advocates gender targeted strategies that deliberately integrate both men and women farmers in agroforestry development with the broader context of a farming systems development paradigm. In examining land tenure issues as they affect the development of agroforestry, it is important to recognize that both tenure and gender considerations go together. Key Words: Land tenure, gender division of labour, land degradation, land management, farming system development, agroforestry development, gender sensitive, gender targeting. Introduction A large literature has documented the important role of women in agriculture and food production (Jackson, 1994) and many micro studies of time use have shown the differences in male and female time inputs to crop husbandary (Mueller, 1984; Henn, 1978). Jackson (1994) reviews studies which have demonstrated the significance of equity issues in the process of 140 environmental management and degradation. These have shown that the poor are most negatively affected by environmental degradation (Jodha, 1986), that the poor are often blamed for resource degradation (Drinkwater, 1989), that resource degradation is often related to processes of accumulation, social differentiation and commercialization (Blaikie and Brookfield, 1987; Cliffe and Moorson, 1979), and that poverty drives rural people to exploit the environment (Blaikie, 1986). Class analyses of the causes and consequences of environmental degradation consider only one aspect of equity. Jackson (1994) argues that environmental degradation is a gendered process and we need to view environmental change through the lens of gender relations. The insight derived from gender analysis have contributed to a general paradigm shift in social sciences in which the relativity of actors perceptions has become clear – the environment is perceived by rural women and rural men differently and assumptions underlying early thinking on women and the environment are now being challenged (IDS Policy Briefly – Issue No. 5): x The assumption that participation in projects will of itself ensure that women will gain when in reality it depends on the type of participation and terms on which it takes place; x The tendency to treat women as a homogeneous group, ignoring the important differences between them and; x The simplistic assumption that women’s interests and those of the environment are necessarily the same. Division of labour between men and women in access to natural resources, and in their management and use, are common in African land use management systems. Concerning land tenure and rights there is the crucial issue of women’s rights to land and trees and hence to fuelwood (William, 1985). The widespread practice of bush burning in farming systems in Africa is a frequent target of education campaigns because to the outsider it appears to be destructive. Men and women have different reasons for bush burning. Whereas men may burn to ease clearing, women often burn to stimulate a nitrogen flush for crops and to stimulate the fruit and nut production of trees (William, 1985). Environmental degradation will therefore have impacts on men and women gender division of labour. Gender land use concerns and targeting as used in this study refers to the formal and informal policies that are taken to address some of the men’s and women’s issues related to land tenure and agroforestry development. Women constitute the bulk of small-scale resource-limited farmers in the Bamenda Highlands. However, cropland is often not directly under their control, it is usually controlled, by either their husbands, brothers or fathers 141 (Vabi, 1994). Therefore...