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Burkina Faso |
WOMEN
Overcoming obstacles, aiming at progress
On 11 October 2001, together with many other countries, Burkina Faso celebrated «World Day For Women». The theme was: «The Role Of Rural Women in the National Economy.» Obviously an important topic considering the enthusiasm of women living and working in the countryside, and their place in the local community.
Women are the backbone of Burkina Faso’s rural economy, hence of the national economy. In rural ar-eas, women play an important role in economic activities; 93.4% of them live and work in the countryside, very often in uncertain conditions. Producing food is their main activity, and their responsibilities often exceed those of the men. They look after storing, cooking and processing food. 40% of agricultural produce marketing is done by women. In addition to their work on the farm, rural women go off into the woods looking for shea nuts and tamarin. Some of these are eaten by the family, the rest are taken to market, either in their raw state or processed.
Stockbreeding is also an important activity among rural women. 60% own fowl: chickens, turkeys, etc. 55% raise cattle, sheep, goats. Income from all this activity, plus the fattening of pigs for slaughter or for taking to market, contributes in no small way to promote women’s economic dependence.
During the dry season, rural women busy themselves with craft industries and trading. This is mainly cotton spinning, weaving, embroidery, dyeing, basket work, manufacturing shea nut butter and beer brewing from certain cereals.
Burkina Faso’s women know how to use appropriate technology when it comes to manufacturing certain products. They know the value of grinding mills and in so doing, improve their work methods and increase their income.
Someone once said: «If Africa is to improve its rural agricultural sector, making it more productive, more long-lasting and more equitable, then it needs women». If agriculture is intended to be the driving force behind Burkina Faso’s economic growth, then the question of constraints placed on rural women, must be addressed. These constraints are of different kinds. Firstly: Access to land. In rural areas women are rarely landowners, and when they are, their property is usually smaller and less fertile when compared with men’s. Secondly: Access to financial resources. As women are not, generally-speaking, landowners, they cannot offer any guarantee when seeking a loan. Because of this, they can’t get hold of many kinds of loan and the banks consider them to be «risk customers».
Women — ignored producers
Non-access to technological know-how and to fund-management, constitutes a major handicap to women’s enhanced value in development. In the rural sector, women have not been able to profit from improved agricultural training — they remain on the fringe of new techniques, and men have taken their place. Their ignorance of modern methods of production and management, have prevented them from keeping a tight grip on the marketing of their products.
Difficulty in getting professional knowledge, has pushed women into the role of dependence on others, thus diminishing their revenue, to the point of not being able to cover their expenses. With no access to credit and inefficient in technical procedures, women are excluded from modern agricultural methods. They are restricted to a production and marketing system based on traditional methods, which have little to do with making a profit. Moreover, country women’s craft industry products have to compete with manufactured ones, involving organisational difficulties and no access to raw materials.
Any analysis of rural women’s role in the national economy brings to light a serious imbalance between their important participation in development, and the small amount of payment they receive. The fact is: Burkina Faso’s women make a substantial contribution to the country’s development, but this is frequently underestimated and goes unnoticed because nothing is written down in the country’s «account books».
But change is now in the air. Burkina Faso’s leaders have begun to recognise the importance of women’s contribution to society’s welfare and the country’s socio-economic development. Together with the international community and some non-governmental organisations, the authorities have set in motion concrete action to improve the lot of Burkina Faso’s women.
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