Title: Contribution of non-timber forest products to women's empowerment: evidence from South Burkina Faso

Authors: Soumaïla Sawadogo

Addresses: Department of Economics, Centre for Economic and Social Studies, Documentation and Research (CEDRES), Thomas Sankara University, 12 BP 417 Ouagadougou 12, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Abstract: Rural women harvest non-timber forest products (NTFPs) for various reasons, but does this activity contribute to their empowerment? Using the capability approach, the current paper analyses the contribution of NTFP exploitation to women's empowerment in villages bordering the ecological Pô-Nazinga-Sissili complex in South Burkina Faso. With original data collected on 336 randomly selected households, some indices of women's empowerment in agriculture were calculated, with and without consideration of NTFP exploitation as an agricultural activity. Using the ordinary least squares technique, these indices were then regressed on the socio-economic characteristics of the selected individuals and their households. Results show that NTFP exploitation contributes to a significant increase in women's empowerment and a significant reduction in gender decision-making inequalities within households. NTFP exploitation would be an activity to be deeply considered in rural women's empowerment policies.

Keywords: capabilities approach; forest management; empowerment; gender equality; non-timber forest products; NTFP; sustainable development; women's empowerment in agriculture index; WEAI; Burkina Faso.

DOI: 10.1504/AJESD.2024.139155

African Journal of Economic and Sustainable Development, 2024 Vol.9 No.4, pp.284 - 310

Received: 12 Apr 2023
Accepted: 12 Feb 2024
Published online: 16 Jun 2024 *

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