Access to resources in West Africa agroforestry systems from a gender perspective

Abstract

The article tries to study, through the survey of the published literature, how the rural populations in West Africa manage and take advantage of the resources in the ecosystems where they live. Accounting of the vulnerability of these livelihoods, the accessibility and entitlement over land, vegetation, water, crops condition how these populations cope with the changes that occur. In highly deteriorated environments, the gaze at the relationships that men and women establish with their own agricultural and forest space helps to understand the resilience mechanisms of these livelihoods and how to address possible solutions to social inequality and environmental degradation. The current dynamic of landgrabbing throughout the world is a serious threat to these livelihoods and exposes the need to deeply modify agricultural policies to face the present food and environmental challenges.