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Journal of Food Security. 2014, 2(2), 51-58
DOI: 10.12691/JFS-2-2-2
Original Research

Women’s Empowerment: A Key Mediating Factor between Cotton Cropping and Food Insecurity in Western Burkina Faso

Catherine Maisonneuve1, Dia Sanou2, , Korodjouma Ouattara3, Constance Nana2, Sanni Yaya2, Rosanne Blanchet2 and Thérèse Desrosiers1

1Département des Sciences des aliments et de nutrition, Université Laval, Québec, Canada

2Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

3Institut de l’environnement et de recherches agricoles, Centre national de la recherche scientifique et technologique du Burkina Faso, Saria, Burkina Faso

Pub. Date: June 30, 2014
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Catherine Maisonneuve, Dia Sanou, Korodjouma Ouattara, Constance Nana, Sanni Yaya, Rosanne Blanchet and Thérèse Desrosiers. Women’s Empowerment: A Key Mediating Factor between Cotton Cropping and Food Insecurity in Western Burkina Faso. Journal of Food Security. 2014; 2(2):51-58. doi: 10.12691/JFS-2-2-2

Abstract

We examined associations between cotton cropping, women’s empowerment, and household food insecurity in Burkina Faso. A cross-sectional study was conducted during the 2012 pre-harvest period. Socioeconomic characteristics and agricultural production data were collected using a questionnaire. The Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) questionnaire was used to assess household food insecurity. Four villages of western Burkina Faso were selected for the study. In total, 275 farmer’s households, who had at least one child between the age of 6 and 59 months, participated in the survey. Food insecurity affected 67% of households. HFIAS score was negatively correlated with the Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) (r = - 0.40, P = 0.000006). Cotton cropping was not directly associated with the HFIAS score, while women’s workload (positively) and income-generating activities (negatively) were. Interestingly, the only village where women could own cotton fields was negatively associated with the HFIAS score. An intensive cotton production was positively associated with the amount of time women spent fetching water and was tendentiously associated with women’s working time in cotton fields. Finally, the size of cotton farms was positively associated with the practice of petty trading. The relationships between cash cropping, women’s daily activities, and food insecurity are dynamic, behaviour related, and should be targeted for appropriate behaviour change intervention in order to alleviate food insecurity.

Keywords

cash cropping, food insecurity, women, Burkina Faso

Copyright

Creative CommonsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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