The Outburst: Climate Change, Gender Relations, and Situational Analysis

Abstract

Since the major Sahelian droughts and famines of the early 1970s and 1980s, international development and aid organizations have played a large role in the small village of Biidi 2, located in northern Burkina Faso. This article explores how a visit by a development 'expert' to the village can be analyzed as a social situation in which normal social control is suspended and negotiated. Focusing on gender relations, the analysis shows how the women of Biidi 2 involved in the event were relatively free to construct alternative definitions of their identity and social position vis-à-vis the men.

Adaptive lives. Navigating the global food crisis in a changing climate

“…Adger, 1999;Adger et al, 2009;Belliveau et al, 2006;Eakin, 2000Eakin, , 2005Leichenko and O'Brien, 2008;Mertz et al, 2009Mertz et al, , 2010O'Brien and Leichenko, 2000;Reid and Vogel, 2006;Roncoli et al, 2001;Thomas et al, 2007;Tschakert, 2007). Evidence from the Sahel indicates that although households are aware of climate variability and change, they often point to economic, political and social rather than climate factors as the major reasons for change (Mertz et al, 2009(Mertz et al, , 2010Nielsen, 2009Nielsen, , 2010Reenberg, 2010a, 2010b;Tschakert, 2007). The complexity and intertwinement of drivers is also found in Southern Africa (Reid and Vogel, 2006;Thomas et al, 2007;Ziervogel et al, 2006;Ziervogel and Taylor, 2008), Asia (Adger, 1999;Coulthard, 2008), and Latin America (Eakin, 2000(Eakin, , 2005.…”

“…It was collected via two methods: participant observation and semi-structured interviews. It should be noted that some of the results presented in this article regarding rain-fed agriculture, livelihood strategies, climate perceptions and the importance of buying food draw on research prior to the 2010 stay, in which participant observation and semi-structured interviews were supplemented by a questionnaire survey, focus group interviews and human-environmental timelines (see Nielsen, 2009Nielsen, , 2010Reenberg, 2010a, 2010b).…”

“…As in 2007, the harvests of 2008, 2009 and 2010 only provided food for between four and nine months, and the latter only for the households prioritizing agricultural work vis-á-vis other livelihood strategies like migration and horticulture. In 2010, for example, only four out of the 115 households in the village produced enough cereals to last nine months because of exactly such a prioritization; a choice actually leaving them short on cash for essential things like social obligations, medicine, schooling and clothes (see Nielsen, 2009Nielsen, , 2010, not to mention food for the remaining 3 month. All cereal produced on the field are consumed in the household.…”

“…There is, however, no strong market potential as population density in the region is low and markets relatively few and far away, which makes distance an obstacle. Hence, the economic system is best described as a subsistence and agropastoral economy in which migration, gardening, small-scale commerce and working for development projects are becoming increasingly important activities (Nielsen, 2009(Nielsen, , 2010Reenberg, 2010a, 2010b).…”

Gendered vulnerabilities to climate change: insights from the semi-arid regions of Africa and Asia

“…Flintan (2010) notes the subtle ways in which women's voices and priorities are heard within customary pastoralist institutions in Ethiopia, while Nielsen (2010) points to the public display of women's hard work and sense of responsibility during an NGO visit to the community as a strategy for gaining leadership positions. In both these instances, voice was ensured by playing their 'gender roles' rather than challenging social rules and norms.…”