Social differentiation and household dynamics associated with early season shea nut collection and trading in Burkina Faso
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Social differentiation and household dynamics associated with early season shea nut collection and trading in Burkina Faso. / Questiaux, François.
In: Forum for Development Studies, Vol. 51, No. 1, 2024, p. 101-120.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Social differentiation and household dynamics associated with early season shea nut collection and trading in Burkina Faso
AU - Questiaux, François
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023 Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI).
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Originally a domestic product used by West African rural population, shea nut has become an international commodity exported all over the world. However, local periodic markets remain a central site of exchange and nut trading for many women shea nut collectors in Burkina Faso. Using survey data from Burkina Faso, this paper explores the ways in which shea nut collectors navigate shea nut trading. Many collectors engage in early nut trading during the farming season to cover their household subsistence needs, despite the lower shea nut price at that time of the year. The results show that this early market consists mostly of better off shea nut collectors buying nuts from worse off collectors, as the lead firms and wholesalers tend to enter the market later in the season. While the exchanged volumes remain small, this highlights social differentiation among women shea nut collectors, as the better-off collectors are able to invest their shea income in other sources of income, while the other collectors rely on shea for their reproduction needs. Furthermore, this social differentiation is also reflected in different household dynamics and bargaining strategies between spouses, as better-off collectors tend to collaborate to a larger extent with their partners than the other collectors.
AB - Originally a domestic product used by West African rural population, shea nut has become an international commodity exported all over the world. However, local periodic markets remain a central site of exchange and nut trading for many women shea nut collectors in Burkina Faso. Using survey data from Burkina Faso, this paper explores the ways in which shea nut collectors navigate shea nut trading. Many collectors engage in early nut trading during the farming season to cover their household subsistence needs, despite the lower shea nut price at that time of the year. The results show that this early market consists mostly of better off shea nut collectors buying nuts from worse off collectors, as the lead firms and wholesalers tend to enter the market later in the season. While the exchanged volumes remain small, this highlights social differentiation among women shea nut collectors, as the better-off collectors are able to invest their shea income in other sources of income, while the other collectors rely on shea for their reproduction needs. Furthermore, this social differentiation is also reflected in different household dynamics and bargaining strategies between spouses, as better-off collectors tend to collaborate to a larger extent with their partners than the other collectors.
KW - bargaining
KW - Burkina Faso
KW - commodity
KW - early trading
KW - gender dynamics
KW - shea (Vitellaria paradoxa)
KW - social differentiation
U2 - 10.1080/08039410.2023.2289922
DO - 10.1080/08039410.2023.2289922
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85179702193
VL - 51
SP - 101
EP - 120
JO - Forum for Development Studies
JF - Forum for Development Studies
SN - 0803-9410
IS - 1
ER -
ID: 382758858