West Africa

Combining Feminist Political Ecology and Participatory Diagramming to Study Climate Information Service Delivery and Knowledge Flows among Smallholder Farmers in Northern Ghana

Citation:

Nyantaki-Frimpong, Hanson. 2019. “Combining Feminist Political Ecology and Participatory Diagramming to Study Climate Information Service Delivery and Knowledge Flows among Smallholder Farmers in Northern Ghana.” Applied Geography 112: 1-17.

Author: Hanson Nyantaki-Frimpong

Abstract:

Using innovative diagramming and a feminist political ecology (FPE) approach, this paper examines gender, power, and equity considerations in the delivery of climate information service (CIS) to smallholder farmers. Based upon a multi-method triangulation fieldwork involving a survey (n = 998), participatory listing and scoring activities (n = 82), and network diagramming (n = 180), the paper illuminates several structural barriers to acquiring CIS. These barriers include gender norms and expectations, patriarchal values, time poverty, and the format in which technical climate forecasts are presented to illiterate farmers. Another key finding is the multiple subject positions beyond gender within which women are embedded, such as the intersection of seniority, religion, class, and positions within households, that further reconfigure access to CIS. In addition to contributing to emerging intersectional research in FPE, the paper proposes innovative ways of studying household relations and politics. More specifically, it illustrates how feminist political ecologists could deploy participatory network diagramming to provide a nuanced, powerful, and graphic account of subtle politics at the household scale.

Keywords: climate information service, smallholder farmers, Gender, participatory diagramming, feminist political ecology, Ghana

Topics: Age, Class, Agriculture, Environment, Feminisms, Feminist Political Ecology, Gender, Women, Gender Roles, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equity, Households, Intersectionality, Religion Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Ghana

Year: 2019

Agricultural Diversification and Dietary Diversity: a Feminist Political Ecology of the Everyday Experiences of Landless and Smallholder Households in Northern Ghana

Citation:

Nyantaki-Frimpong, Hanson. 2017. “Agricultural Diversification and Dietary Diversity: a Feminist Political Ecology of the Everyday Experiences of Landless and Smallholder Households in Northern Ghana.” Geoforum 86: 63-75.

Author: Hanson Nyantaki-Frimpong

Abstract:

There is an emerging literature suggesting that when smallholder households diversify their agriculture, a wide range of food groups will be available, and consequently, dietary diversity will be improved. The present article brings this literature into critical conversation with research in feminist political ecology. Grounded in five years of repeated fieldwork, the article weaves together 70 in-depth interviews, and dietary as well as farm production diversity data from 30 households in northern Ghana. This dataset is analyzed by considering not only the diversity of farming systems, but also household headship, including male-headed, de facto female-headed, and de jure female-headed. Among other findings, the paper suggests that dietary diversity scores are lowest for households who have lost their farmlands to on-going land grabbing in Ghana. Furthermore, the paper suggests that while agricultural diversification is essential, it is not sufficient in itself to address nutritional challenges confronting smallholder households. In the contested and political arena of the household, the gendered politics of access to food can deeply shape how agricultural diversification contributes to dietary diversity. Overall, I do not wish to conclude that there are no benefits of increasing the diversity of farm production. Rather, I wish to stress that farm production diversity might not be the best or only strategy to improving dietary diversity among rural households. Through this case study, I also contribute to emerging research in new feminist political ecologies by demonstrating how the intersection of gender, seniority, marital status, and sexual politics shapes resource access and control.

Keywords: farm production diversity, dietary diversity, land, Gender, feminist political ecology, Ghana

Topics: Agriculture, Feminisms, Feminist Political Ecology, Gender, Women, Households, Intersectionality, Land Grabbing Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Ghana

Year: 2017

The Role of Women in Conflict Resolution: A Case Study of the Niger-Delta Crisis

Citation:

Osisioma, Ugochukwu Samuel. 2020. "The Role of Women in Conflict Resolution: A Case Study of the Niger-Delta Crisis." American Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Research 4 (3): 317-24.

Author: Ugochukwu Samuel Osisioma

Abstract:

The peaceful and orderliness of any society cannot be divorced from the crucial role being played by women in their capacity as wives and mothers. In every society, women are not just being known as being peaceful, but in extension, they are also known as crusaders of peaceful means of settling any conflict. In this paper, efforts would be geared towards taking a critical examination of the role of women in pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial Africa. Special focus would be geared towards the role of women in the conflict resolution of the Niger Delta crisis. Taking into consideration the pervasive influence of menfolk in decision making processes in any society, the Niger Delta women have demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt through peaceful protests and other means to bring the Niger Delta crisis to a logical conclusion. The research paper seeks to bring to writing the impact of concerned female activists and environmentalist who helped in galvanizing support for the ending of armed hostility in the Niger Delta. This and many other issues relating to women‟s role in the peaceful resolution of the Niger Delta conflict would be the crux of discussion in this paper. In the main, adequate recommendation would be proffered to forestall future occurrence.

Topics: Coloniality/Post-Coloniality, Conflict, Gender, Women, Peace Processes Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Nigeria

Year: 2020

The Success of Women's Participation In Resolving Conflicts In Liberia

Citation:

Masitoh, Dewi. 2020. "The Success of Women's Participation In Resolving Conflicts In Liberia." Journal of Governance 5 (1): 71-90.

Author: Dewi Masitoh

Abstract:

The Civil War that occurred in Liberia has been going on for a long time, where there are two rebel groups, they are: Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL). Both of these rebel groups have caused gender inequality in Liberia continuously, especially women who have been victims of this war. However, with the efforts and participation of women from Liberian society, the war was successfully reconciled without creating violence. This research is aimed at realizing that women are not only victims of gender inequality, but can also be 'agents of change' in creating peace and better change for the future of a country. This research will use qualitative research methods, that emphasize the observation and understanding of a social phenomenon, where data is collected through secondary data and literature review. This research will analyze the case using three concepts: Feminism, Gender Equality, and Peace. The research concluded that there have been several efforts that have been made by women to resolve conflicts in Liberia by creating and building peace sustainably so that peace can be stable for a long time. The efforts that have been made by Liberian women are by creating several organizations and affiliations, they are: Woman in the Peacebuilding Network (WIPNET), Mano River Women's Peace Network (MARWOPNET), Association of Female Lawyers of Liberia (AFELL). This long-term peace can improve gender equality in several sectors of Liberian society, such as the economy and political sectors that are getting better and more effective from year to year.

Keywords: women's participation, conflicts, democracy, Liberia, Movement

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Civil Society, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Peacebuilding Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Liberia

Year: 2020

The Planning and Practice of Feminist Fieldwork Methodologies in Conflict and Post-Conflict Contexts

Citation:

Reiling, Carrie. 2020. "The Planning and Practice of Feminist Fieldwork Methodologies in Conflict and Post-Conflict Contexts." Sage Research Methods Cases. doi:10.4135/9781529722727.

Author: Carrie Reiling

Abstract:

This case draws lessons from feminist fieldwork methodologies in three West African countries to inform the study of international relations. It uses the implementation of the UN Security Council’s Women, Peace, and Security agenda to examine the meanings of peace and security for women and how women’s local activism works with national governments and international agendas. This case study demonstrates that feminist-driven field research is a valuable research methodology in that it is, at its core, highly reflexive. One of the benefits of using feminist fieldwork practices to study the impacts of international policies is that the researcher is continually working to avoid exploitation and the pretense of objectivity. In particular, this case explores how researchers and participants in conflict and post-conflict contexts can share knowledge and mobilize collectively, as well as how researchers can understand their data relationally across sites and crises.

Keywords: conflict, security, IT security

Topics: Civil Society, Conflict, Feminisms, Gender, Women, Peace and Security, Post-Conflict, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS Regions: Africa, West Africa

Year: 2020

Women in Post-Conflict Niger-Delta of Nigeria: Amnesty versus Restorative Justice

Citation:

Abimbola, Foluke Oluyemisi. 2019. "Women in Post-Conflict Niger-Delta of Nigeria: Amnesty versus Restorative Justice." Journal of Law and Criminal Justice 7 (1): 23-34.

Author: Foluke Oluyemisi Abimbola

Abstract:

The Niger-Delta of Nigeria is known for violence and conflicts as a result of opposition of militant groups to oil exploration activities concentrated in this area of Nigeria. The militant groups are still agitating for a share of the oil revenue and for the development of their region. Women in the Niger-Delta of Nigeria have experienced different levels of violence and torture during these conflict situations. Some of the crimes perpetrated against women during these conflicts are rape, forced labour, sex slavery, and brutal murder of their family members. In addition, during conflict situations and even thereafter, the women experience a deeper level of poverty as a result of their inability to continue with their economic activities such as farming or fishing due to displacements caused by the conflict as most of the women living in the Niger-Delta rural communities are subsistence farmers. Following years of insurgency by angry militants against the Nigerian government, the amnesty strategy was eventually mapped out by the government of the day in order to give the militant youth economic opportunities to stem the tide of conflicts. However, the vast majority of women and girls who were and are still victims of these conflicts were not included. This paper shall highlight the need for restorative justice especially for women who are victims of the insurgency. Whereas amnesty seeks to give a better future to the militants, the women are unable to recover effectively with little or no means of indemnifying their losses. This paper proposes restitution or compensation for victims while creating constructive roles for victims in the criminal justice process.

Keywords: women, Niger Delta, post-conflict mechanisms, amnesty, restorative justice

Topics: Age, Youth, Agriculture, Displacement & Migration, Economies, Poverty, Conflict, Resource Conflict, Extractive Industries, Gender, Women, Governance, Justice, Torture, Sexual Violence, Rape, Sexual Slavery, SV against Women, Violence Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Nigeria

Year: 2019

Hidden Inequalities: Tax Challenges of Market Women in Enugu and Kaduna States, Nigeria

Citation:

Akpan, Imaobong, and Kas Sempere. 2019. “Hidden Inequalities: Tax Challenges of Market Women in Enugu and Kaduna States, Nigeria.” Working Paper 97, ICTD (International Center for Tax and Development), Brighton.

Authors: Imaobong Akpan, Kas Sempere

Annotation:

Summary:
This paper presents the findings of a study on gender-based taxation differences among market traders in two Nigerian states. 
 
At a high level, no significant differences were found between female and male traders in the markets visited in terms of tax payments, payments for market services and tax increases. However, a closer look at the data shows implicit tax biases that affect women negatively. Although female traders pay the same amount of presumptive tax as male traders, they earn much less. Even female traders selling the same types of products as their male counterparts tend to earn less. Additionally, common tax increases beyond the legally stipulated amount, as well as the burden of unpaid care work (that keeps women away from earning more money), also aggravate the observed anti- woman tax bias. Based on these findings we recommend, in line with suggestions made by interviewed market leaders, that Nigerian tax policymakers should develop a segmented system of presumptive taxation more closely based on actual earnings, or at least based on the type of product sold. Such segmentation would help to alleviate the gender bias inherent to the current presumptive taxation system. This study also finds that all market traders value the benefits of female tax collectors. In general, this preference is due to a perception among traders that female tax collectors are more understanding and calmer than male tax collectors. Female tax collectors were also not reported to be involved in asking for sexual favours, which was a complaint levelled against some of their male colleagues. Some markets have even taken the initiative to create mixed-gender tax collection groups, and to replace male tax collectors reported for harassing women sexually with female tax collectors. Based on these findings we recommend that, in line with previous literature, Nigerian tax authorities should work to integrate more female tax collectors into the public tax system, as well as in the market unions and associations that act as tax collection agents for the government. (Summary from ICTD)

Topics: Economies, Public Finance, Gender, Women Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Nigeria

Year: 2019

Liberia’s Women Veterans: War, Roles and Reintegration

Citation:

Vastapuu, Leena. 2018. Liberia's Women Veterans: War, Roles and Reintegration. London: Zed Books.

Author: Leena Vastapuu

Annotation:

Summary:
The Liberian civil wars of the 1990s and 2000s were notorious for their atrocities, and for the widespread use of child soldiers by both sides. Young girls accounted for up to forty percent of these combatants, but their unique perspective and experiences have largely been excluded from accounts of the conflict.
 
In Liberia’s Woman Veterans, Leena Vastapuu uses an innovative “auto-photographic” methodology to tell the story of two of Africa’s most brutal civil wars through the eyes of 133 former female child soldiers. It allows the book to provide a palpable account of these women’s experiences of trauma and stigma. It also illustrates the challenges of reintegration into postwar society, as well as the women’s hopes and aspirations for the future. Vastapuu argues that these women, too often perceived merely as passive victims of the conflict, can in fact play an important role in postwar reconciliation and peace building. In the process, the work overturns gendered perceptions of warfare and militarism, and provides an exceptional take on postconflict societies. (Summary from Zed Books)

Topics: Armed Conflict, Civil Wars, Combatants, Child Soldiers, DDR, Gender, Girls, Health, Trauma, Military Forces & Armed Groups, Militarism, Post-Conflict, Peacebuilding Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Liberia

Year: 2018

Factors Associated with the Use of Maternal Health Services by Mothers in a Post-Conflict Area of Western Côte d'Ivoire in 2016

Citation:

Samba, Mamadou, Akissi Régine Attia-Konan, Abou Dramane Sangaré, Gotré Jules Youan, Luc Philippe Kouadio, and Ramata Bakayoko-Ly. 2020. "Factors Associated with the Use of Maternal Health Services by Mothers in a Post-Conflict Area of Western Côte d'Ivoire in 2016." BMC Health Services Research 20.

Authors: Mamadou Samba, Akissi Régine Attia-Konan, Abou Dramane Sangaré, Gotré Jules Youan, Luc Philippe Kouadio, Ramata Bakayoko-Ly

Abstract:

Background: In Côte d’Ivoire, maternal health service utilization indicators remain low despite improvements in health coverage and the availability of free health care for pregnant women. The objective of the study was to identify the determinants associated with the use of maternal health services in the department of Bloléquin, in western Côte d’Ivoire. 
 
Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study with an analytical focus. The study sample size was 400 women. Study participants were selected through a two-stage cluster survey. The data were collected using a standardized questionnaire whose items concerned socio-demographic data, the different uses of maternal health services, namely childbirth assisted by a health professional, use of family planning, prenatal consultation and postnatal consultation. Logistic regression was used to investigate factors associated with the use of maternal health services. The significance of the statistical tests was set at 5%. The odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated and interpreted. 
 
Results: The results showed that women made less use of family planning services (OR = 0.4), prenatal consultation (OR = 0.2) and assisted childbirth (OR = 0.2) when they provided the funding for care themselves. Women with monthly incomes above $26.8 used family planning services 4 times more than those with lower incomes. Married women used prenatal consultations 3 times more often than unmarried women (CI95% = 1.4–7.3). Desiring pregnancy increased the use of post-natal consultations by 3 times (CI95% = 1.5–6.1). 
 
Conclusion: Improving the use of maternal health services in western Côte d’Ivoire requires taking into account women’s socio-cultural and economic challenges. In initiatives related to the financial empowerment of women, efforts must be made at the level of emotional considerations related to pregnancy.

Keywords: determinants, Côte d'Ivoire, maternal health services, accessibility

Topics: Gender, Women, Health, Reproductive Health, Post-Conflict Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Côte D'Ivoire

Year: 2020

From Political to Personal Violence: Links between Conflict and Non-Partner Physical Violence in Post-Conflict Liberia

Citation:

Kelly, Jocelyn T. D., Elizabeth Colantuoni, Courtland Robinson, and Michele R. Decker. 2019. "From Political to Personal Violence: Links between Conflict and Non-Partner Physical Violence in Post-Conflict Liberia." Global Public Health 14 (12): 1639-52.

Authors: Jocelyn Kelly, Elizabeth Colantuoni, Courtland Robinson, Michele R. Decker

Abstract:

War and interpersonal violence together account for a large burden on global health. Yet very few studies look at the relationship between these types of aggression. Non-partner physical violence (NPPV) is an often-understudied form of gender-based violence (GBV). This analysis draws on two datasets from one conflict-affected country, Liberia, to evaluate the impact of conflict on NPPV post-conflict. The Armed Conflict Location and Event Dataset (ACLED) measures the intensity of the conflict in Liberia from 1999-2003, while the Demographic and Heath Survey (DHS) data measure women's experiences with violence four years post-conflict. Almost half of women surveyed (45%) indicated that they experienced any kind of NPPV, highlighting the widespread nature of this issue. A multilevel modelling approach was used to account for the nesting of individuals within districts. Women living in districts that experienced conflict events in four or five years were almost three times as likely (aOR 2.93, p < .001) to experience past-year NPPV compared to individuals living in no conflict districts. Findings from this study suggest women residing in a conflict event-affected district may be at heightened risk of increased violence even years after peace is declared.

Keywords: interpersonal violence, conflict, civil war, contagion of violence, human rights

Topics: Armed Conflict, Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Post-Conflict, Violence Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Liberia

Year: 2019

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